Chapter 63: Behind everything! – Chapter 63

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Hiroki’s POV!

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After making sure that both of the demons were gone, I slowly came out of the painting and hid somewhere within the darkest part of the room.

I almost thought that they found out that I was spying on them. 

Using the painting to peek at their conversation might have been the best option for me.

But I have to say that I felt a bit bad about the way they were treating the lord of this town.

“Is this how they always treat you?” I asked while trying to remain friendly towards him.

But suddenly talking to someone like that startled him, not to mention that I have a similar appearance as a demon.

“W-what do you want from me?! I already told you guys that I'm working on it.”

He must think that I’m trying to get information about me and my party members. But I should clear this misunderstanding as I don't want to waste too much time here.

“I'm sorry if I have scared you. But rest assured, I'm not a demon.” I told him as I slowly walked towards him.

“What? You can’t fool me with that appearance!” The lord doubted as he shouted at me.

“It's true though, but leaving that aside. Me and my party were sent here from the guild of Holl town about the adventurers that had gone missing. And we’re trying to figure out what is going on” I explained to the lord as I was taking a closer look at him.

He had a surprised and relieved look on his face as he swallowed his own saliva.

“Are you with… the adventurers that came today?” He asked, unsure whether he could trust me or not.

“Yeah, me and my friends have split up so we could find anyone unaffected by the demons.” 

His eyes showed hope as I told him what our plans were, but on the other hand, he seemed a bit distant.

“I see, but you and your friends won't be enough to stop those demons…” He responded back, his eyes filled with sorrow.

“You don't need to worry about that, My friends are strong. And I don't think that my friends will run away, especially not from where we came from.” 

The lord looked down for a second before getting the courage to finally give me a proper answer.

“Follow me…” The lord said with a deep voice after seeing that I wasn't planning on going away that easily.

There weren't any servants or guards around this floor, but I could feel a lot of people who were in different rooms. And that was reasonable since it was this late at night.

The chubby lord led me to the lowest floor of this mansion until he revealed a secret doorway where we could go underground.

I immediately understood where we were going by the fact that this place was really similar to the mansion where Aya was kidnapped.

“Are these…” From what I could see, there were many injured people inside different cells which were barely reacting. But the moment they saw us coming in here, everyone started shivering as they were looking at me.

“Food.” The lord’s deep voice vibrated as he suddenly stopped, unable to do anything about any of them.

“You mean… they…” I never imagined that the situation would be turning like this.

“Yes… demons feast on the blood and flesh of humans just for fun.”

This situation became more disgusting than I had thought. I thought that demons only looked down on humans despite wanting to take over their lands, but eating them? For fun?!

Around the cells were many different people who were scared to even look me in the eyes while some younger girls were on the verge of crying, but never dared to let out a voice from the fear.

“Get everyone out of their cells.”

The lord looked back at me with a shocked look on his face the moment I told him those words. But in the next moment, he greeted his teeth in anger as he slammed his fist on the cell bar, scaring the young girl who was in a fetus position.

“....”

He knew that I was being serious, and I didn't plan on letting these people stay here and become food for those disgusting demons.

“How are you going to rescue these people out of here?” He asked me as he tried maintaining his rage within himself. “You think that simply getting them out of here will help them? You do understand that this whole town has become a nest for those bastards!”

I continued looking straight into his defeated eyes which didn't seem strong enough to resist against the demons who had taken over the town.

“You may want to help this town, but you should already know that we have the whole town against us. Even my own servants in this house can not be trusted. And my son! My own son doesn't recognise me as his father anymore.” Blood was coming out of his hands from the frustration of his clenched fists.

“So please… go back with your friends and explain everything to the guild. No matter how you and your friends are, you won't be able to win against the commoners of this town.” A tired voice sounded from the lord as he couldn't bring himself to look me back in my eyes.

“I understand…” I calmly responded back to the lord before preparing myself to leave this place.

“I haven't told anything about you to the demons, so none of them should be able to find you yet. That's why please quickly leave this town and get help! Please!” The lord begged me before I could find myself back to the stairs that lead to the first floor of this mansion.

I basically got the graphs of what had happened to this mansion. But for now, I had to go back and regroup with everyone as quickly as I can.

Without making any noises or being noticed, I quickly went through the floors until I found Aya waiting for my return.

She seemed to be fascinated by the brightness of the moon without a care that we were at the rooftop of a mansion during an important mission.

“Hiroki, you’re back? Did you learn something?” And the moment she noticed my presence, she quickly looked back at me with a serious look on her face.

“Yeah, I learned more than I thought…” I calmly responded back to the curious looking girl who wanted to hear about what I found out. 

But before I could tell Aya what I learned, we had to get out of this place without wasting any more time.

“But, we need to find the other first.”

“I understand!”

And without wasting any more time or being noticed by any of the guards, I possessed Aya and decided to head back to where we were supposed to meet with everyone else.

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After Hiroki separated from the group together with Aya, they all began the plan that they had discussed together.

Both Theresa and the priest were on their way to the main cells of this town. 

Since there may be injured people in the cells, it was decided that Emiko would be the one to come with Theresa. Another reason for that was because Emiko was the one who knew this town better than any of the members of their party.

“Are you scared?” Theresa asked while keeping a close distance with the priest as they were getting closer to their destination.

“Uh.. no, rather than scared, I’m more–”

“Angry, I know.” Theresa’s face was darkening in anger as she tried holding a conversation with the priest.

She wasn't sure why, but this was the first time that Theresa felt this comfortable to start a conversation with another person which she hadn't spent that much time with.

“....” But deep down, Theresa knew that the priest was no different from her. A person who seeked justice to the innocent, and did not fear anything when wanting to rescue the weak.

After reaching a building which seemed to be connected to the underground, Theresa noticed some guards which were keeping watch the whole place around.

“Should I knock them all out?” Theresa asked as she was on the edge of exposing herself to the guards.

“No, you’ll attract more attention.” The priest rejected her suggestion as both of them were glaring at the guards who seemed to be on alert the whole time.

“Then, do you perhaps know any other way to get in?” Without looking back at the girl she was supposed to work with, Theresa continued keeping a safe ground while making sure that no one would notice them.

“Yes, I know one.”

“....”

Theresa didn’t say anything else about the priest’s knowledge of knowing a secret path which led to an underground prison of the whole town. A place that was only meant to keep criminals and bandits inside them. And the priest knew a way inside without being noticed.

After moving from their hiding spot, both the priest and the red haired warrior arrived at an abandoned looking shelter which seemed to not have been used in years.

“It's still usable.” The priest said with a glint of relief in her voice before trying to push the door open. But from the looks of it, the door seemed to be stuck on something, preventing her from entering inside.

Seeing how the priest couldn’t push the door, Theresa kicked the door open, breaking everything that was blocking its way.

“Now it's open.” Casually said Theresa after making a way for them to enter inside.

“Thanks…” 

Startled by the sudden ruthless way of breaking the door open, the priest made sure that no one was following them before entering inside.

The priest began looking around this shelter-like building which seemed on the verge of collapsing while Theresa was simply following her, wondering how they were going to enter inside the prison.

“Is there a secret entrance in here, cause I don’t see how we’re breaking inside that prison any other way?” Asked Theresa, arms crossed as she was staring at the priest who was wandering around the room.

And before the priest could give a proper answer, she pushed away a boxed shaped thing, revealing a wooden door hidden behind it. “This is a hidden path, used by prisoners as a way to escape.”

Theresa suspiciously looked at the priset for revealing such information to her. 

How can a priest know such information? Is there more to this girl than her looks tell? Those were the thoughts of the brave girl who only seeked nothing more but justice.

After carefully walking through the small path covered with cobwebs and dust, both girls slowly made their way to the underground prison. And since there was no way of having any light source, that's why her priest used her own powers to glow their path so none of them would trip on anything.

After reaching a dead end, both the priest and Theresa looked in confusion.

“Did we go the wrong way?”

“No, this was supposed to be the secret entrance of the prison.” The priest didn't know how to respond as she tried thinking what could’ve happened. “Maybe they have blocked this place!”

“Then, all I have to do is break it open.” 

After carefully pulling the priest away from the dead end, Theresa slowly pointed her sword and cracked through the wall. 

Since the place around them was limited from moving freely, Theresa only relied on raw strength of her muscles as the wall began cracking until it was destroyed.

“Let's go. We have no time to waste.” Theresa told the priest after opening a way for them to finally enter the prison.

“R-right…” The priest on the other hand was left a bit speechless from the strength this girl in front of her held. Even though she had slender arms, and a busty body, she had the strength of a powerful knight.

After they entered the place, a terrible smell of blood and puke was picked by their noses which they immediately covered using their own clothes.

But the worse was about to happen as they glanced at the sight that was right in front of their eyes.

“This is terrible!” Cursed the priest under her breath while glancing at many young children which were lying unconscious inside their own cells.

Their bodies were covered with blood, different cuts, and some of them had lost limbs. Some of them were shivering from the cold atmosphere of the prison and some had yellowish skins from not being healthy for a long period.

Theresa couldn't help by clenching her own sword in rage at the horrifying sight in front of them. The cruelty of treating such young kinds like them without care.

“I will destroy every cell. Prepare to heal them as fast as you can. We don’t know when those bastards will come back here.” Said Theresa as she slashed all of the rusty metal bars of each cell without hurting any of the kids inside them.

*Slash*

Without wasting any more time, the priest began healing the injured body of the first kid while Theresa was cutting the cells open for the other kids as well.

*Slash* *Slash*

The sounds of Theresa’s sword clashing with metal bars could be heard all over the prison as the priest was trying her best to heal the injuries.

And as the first girl regained her consciousness, she started shivering at the sight of another person being inside the cell without being able to clearly see that the priest was trying to help her.

“P-please, d-don’t eat me! I d-d-don’t taste that good!” The girl begged as tears were filling her eyes while covering her own head using her bare arms.

The priest immediately understood that the young girl was abused from the way she was trying to protect herself, and right now she couldn't do anything but try to calm the young girl down.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. I'm here to get you out of here.” The priest softly smiled while trying not to hurt the young girl. “See? It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

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The young girl took a moment of silence before she looked at her own body, noticing that she felt warmer than usual. And what was more surprising to her, her body wasn't in pain anymore.

With a puzzled look on her face, the young girl’s sight was clearing up, realizing the beauty of the priest who had saved her.

“It doesn’t hurt…” The girl asked herself as she looked at her own hads in a bit of confusion before she bursted into tears.

“Waaaah! Hic, t-thank you s-so much big sister!!” The girl cried as she hugged the priest in relief.

Both Theresa and the priest understood that now that the place was noisier, they knew that it wouldn't take long before the guards would come back here.

“Emiko!”

“I know!”

Theresa called out to the priest after she had broken free all of the kids held inside the cells. But she knew that causing this much ruckus, would grab the attention of the guards which were cautiously guarding the entrance above the ground.

“What’s that noise?!”

“It's coming from inside!!”

Theresa stood at the entrance of the stairs as she heard the voices of the guards coming down there. 

And right now, it was only a matter of time before this palace would be filled with many guards.

“I’ll hold them off! Get everyone out of here!” Loudly ordered Theresa as she thrusted her sword on the ground, creating a slim light in the entire room.

“There’s someone here!”

“Call the others! Don’t let anyone escape!”

Many guards were on their way to the prison while the priest was doing her best to heal all of the young children.

“Get her!!”

And the moment some guards made their way down to the prison cells, Theresa held her fists up as she easily threw her first kick which made the guards crush to the other side of the wall.

Without killing them, she could manage to throw these guards without making a sweat as she tried her best to not let any of them get past her.

“She’s just a girl! What are you all doing?!” The guard shouted in anger after finding many of the guards laying on the ground unconscious.

“None of you will get away with this!” Theresa glared in anger as she continued beating the shit out of all of the guards with ease.

After she had managed to level up, her raw skills as a fighter had grown as well. 

Thanks to one of her skills, she could weaken her enemies by thrusting her own sword in the ground, creating a strong barrier affecting her opponents and boosting her comrade’s power.

“Theresa! Everyone is already on their way out!”

Theresa glanced back, finding that all of the kids were gone from this room. And now that she knew that everyone was at a safe spot, there was no need to hold back anymore.

“Clench your teeth. This might hurt a little.” Theresa said with a smirk on her face the moment she pulled her sword out. And after taking a stance with her sword, she crushed the rest of the guards away from here using the back of her sword.

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Theresa made her way back to the secret path of the prison and used everything she could find in order to block the entrance and the exit.

“Is this everyone?” Theresa asked at the sight of all the children who were innocently waiting at the abandoned shelter-like room.

“Yes! We need to get out of this town as quickly as possible!” 

After confirming that there were not many young kids left behind, Theresa and the priest made their way back in the dark without being noticed.

“Miss… I’m scared…” One of the young boys' voices trembled in fear as he tried getting Theresa’s attention.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you to safety.” Assured Theresa as she gave a sweet smile to the young boy.

But it wasn't going to be that easy for them, not now that many guards were making their way to the secret passage.

“Let's go this way.” Said the priest as she had found another dark path where it led to the main road of the town.

From behind them could be heard many of the guards freaking out about the escape of the prisoners.

“This isn't normal. Why would they react so much about some kids escaping?!” 

That's the questing that was haunting Theresa for quite a bit as they were making their way out of the city.

“I don’t know… but whatever it is, those demons needed these kids for some reason.” A rigid, emotionless voice from a priest responded back to Theresa.

The group of kids, together with the two beauties guiding them, finally arrived near the gate of the town which was surprisingly unguarded by anyone.

And without wasting any more of their time, they ran away from the town and hid somewhere in the woods where they were greeted by Kaito and the rest of the girls.

“Is this everyone?” A worried voice from the unbroken guy was heard as soon as he noticed the number of people that had arrived there.

“This is everyone unaffected by the demons' mind corruption!”

Kaito and the girls behind him looked at the sight in front of them that caused much hatred and rage to heat up within themselves.

The group that was waiting in the forest had built a temporary camp for more than 100 people in case Theresa and Emiko would bring more unaffected people. 

But from what they could see, all of the normal humans that were left untouched were nothing more than young children.

The priest and Theresa quickly explained everything that happened to them and the state they found the children in prison.

Yelena also hopped back into Theresa's hands the moment she arrived at the camp.

“....I understand…” Kaito’s eyes dimed after hearing what these kids were going through.

“What should we do now?” The red haired girl beside Kaito inquired about their next move. “Should we head back and inform the guildmaster about this town’s situation?”

“No…” The boy raised his emotionless eyes back up, only to meet the one’s of the girls he cherished. “We’ll wait for Hiroki. He should have gathered more information about this. And depending on the situation that this town in… we’ll have to make a decision.” The boy explained before they heard rustling noises coming from afar.

“Kaito is right.” A white haired girl with dark clothes, stealthy approached the group as she said with a determined voice.

And right next to her, a ghost-like form of a boy began forming as his eyes were blankly staring at everyone in this group. “We need to make a decision here and now before the demons spot us.”

“Hiroki!” Called out Theresa the moment she recognized the ghost form of Hiroki.

Everyone was a bit weirded out by the different way Hiroki was, but right now there were many things more important to them. 

“What did you find?” A concerned gray haired girl asked as her emotionless eyes showed signs of concern.

Everyone was paying close attention to Hiroki, wanting to know what he had seen and heard while he was with the lord of this town.

“Firstyl, this whole town has been turned into a main base for demons.” Hiroki responded while approaching Kaito and the rest of the group.

“We kind of already figured that one out… but how did they manage to do it?” The priest asked the white haired boy, afraid to receive an answer back.

“I’ve been wondering that as well. I heard that this town held many adventurers with great achievements, so it's kind of weird that this town is under the control of demons.” The red haired woman beside Kaito wondered as she tried understanding the situation within the town.

“The answer should be obvious.” 

Everyone looked back at Hiroki, wondering what he could mean behind those words. 

Many different scenarios would go through everyone's minds before something inside them clicked.

“They got control of the lord!” Theresa said in realization as her eyes widened.

And while trying to process the way the demons had conquered a whole town, they all looked back to Hiroki who had more to tell everyone.

“And what's worse, the lord was the only one who wasn't brainwashed by demons besides the prisoners.” Hiroki added before raising more questions to everyone.

“So they are using him to turn his own town into a main base for demons?!” The priest questioned, showing displeasure at seeing how everyone in this town had fallen into the hands of demons.

“And what's worse, this town is only a place where demons could gather food stocks.”

No one could even gather the strength to raise any questions to the statement Hiroki just made about the demon’s plan. Some of the girls almost couldn't take another breath which only made their skin shiver a little. Faces filled with not only confusion but also anger and fear, were the emotions that many of the adventurer’s couldn't keep to themselves.

“F-food?” Aya stuttered as she held her hand over her mouth.

“So all of these kids…” Theresa said as she couldn't summon a true end to her sentence.

While everyone kept a dark look on their eyes, they knew that this situation was more fucked up than they had anticipated.

“Not only that, I also saw some particular hooded individuals entering random houses.” Hiroki began telling what he saw as he grabbed everyone’s attention once again. “And when they usually got out, they had at least one young child or an adult with them…”

Everyone took a glance at the children that were shivering in fear at the sound of hearing the word ‘demon’. 

They all knew what was going to happen to these kids if they were not rescued, and they knew that all of those people who got kidnapped weren't going to see their own families ever again.

“T-this is horrible!” Aya twitched the moment she recalled the scenarios of when demons took humans for their own personal use. 

“That's why we need to decide, whether we attack or we go back and send these kids to safety and tell the guild everything that happened here.”

There was a gap of silence after Hiroki suggested those options to everyone.

Many wanted to prioritize the safety of the kids while some wanted to get rid of the demons as soon as possible. 

Just the fact that many humans were still being used as nothing more than food, was something that only boiled their blood but also raised their confidence even more.

Kaito raised his eyes, only to meet many troubled ones who couldn't make up their minds.“We’ll split up!”

Hiroki crossed his arms before looking up as well. “I agree with Kaito as well. This way, not only the kids will be in safe hands, but also the guild will receive information about our situation. While the rest of us will deal with demons in this town.” 

Everyone nodded with Hiroki, only to find a puzzled priest who seemed to be thinking about something.

“Let me be the one to send this kids back to safety” 

Not wanting to question the sudden decision of the priest, Kaito nodded before looking at the emotionless gray haired girl beside him. “Alright, but she’ll come with you.”

The priest nodded as a way of agreeing with him.

But right now, while the priest was preparing herself to depart from there, the rest of the party members tried thinking up a plan.

“We still don’t know the main place where those demons are hiding.” Kaito questioned after carefully thinking about their next move.

“We don’t need to seek all of the demons if we know where their main leader is.” Hiroki smirked as he told this to everyone. 

Hiroki knew that by attacking the demon who was behind everything in this town, surely that all of the demons would rush back and defend their leader.

“Then you know who and where this demon is?” Asked Theresa, eager to know more about this demon who had caused this much pain to everyone in this town.

“Yes… and that would be none other than the lord of this town.”

Everyone stared with shocked looks on their face at the words that came out of Hiroki’s mouth.

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