Sub Quest: [Survive!]
There are so many people out to get you and your group. Sigh… why did you end up making enemies in every direction? Well, you’ve brought this upon yourself!
Anyway, let’s try to fend off the attack with the people we have now. You can do this!
Reward: (Isn’t surviving the top priority?)
Failure: Death
I didn’t want to make enemies everywhere!
The unfairness of it all was maddening.
But shouting about how unfair it was wouldn’t change anything. In other words, the current onslaught of murderous intent wasn’t going to magically disappear.
“Lady Shekina! Are you alright?”
“Lady Shekina!”
“Wh-what is going on?!”
Arthur, Dehan, and Yuriel shouted one after another. Shekina winced as she clutched her head, which had slammed into something when the carriage toppled over.
“I’m fine, so worry about yourselves first. Arthur, you’re bleeding from your head.”
“It’s nothing!”
“Well I’m not fine. Stop the bleeding already.”
“Our Lady Shekina is so kind, really…”
Arthur sniffled as he started applying pressure to his bleeding forehead. Shekina poked her head past the half-shattered carriage to assess the situation, but Dehan stepped in front of her.
“I’ll go.”
“No, it’s oka—”
Before she could even finish, Dehan had already darted off.
What the heck? I’m the master here! Since when do you just ignore your master like that? Shekina was dumbfounded but let it go and silently observed Dehan.
He crawled out from the carriage and ducked behind a nearby rock, carefully scanning the surroundings.
“Still alive, huh. I guess this isn’t enough to kill them.”
A voice rang out nearby. Dehan pressed his body tightly against the rock, holding his breath.
“Should we go down there?”
“No. Let’s wait for now. You never know what tricks they might pull.”
From the sound of it, they hadn’t noticed Dehan yet. He listened closely.
“Wait? Why bother? It’s just two humans, a demon, and a half-demon. Do we really need to be this cautious?”
“If this mission fails, how are we supposed to face the Elder? We need to proceed as carefully as possible.”
Elder?
Dehan’s eyes widened.
Realizing these enemies were demons, and that they knew we were human—and even used the word ‘Elder’…
‘They’re definitely demons.’
But why?
Dehan was familiar with the position of ‘Elder’ among demons. However, he didn’t really know what kind of beings they were or what they actually did. That only made this situation more absurd and unfamiliar.
‘Focus, now.’
Dehan swallowed hard and activated his sensing ability once again.
Judging by the aura he detected, the enemies were not far—they were stationed on a cliff above them.
‘One… two… three… sixteen in total.’
Clicking his tongue, Dehan withdrew his heightened perception.
Even facing two or three demons of that power level would be a challenge. But sixteen?
‘If I take the lead, then priest Yuriel can guard Lady Shekina, and Sir Arthur can follow up…’
He was rapidly running through battle scenarios in his head. But to face sixteen powerful demons without anyone getting hurt—there was no way it’d be easy. Clenching his jaw, he pressed a hand to his forehead.
‘If I go in expecting to get hurt myself…’
He was preparing to sacrifice himself to improve their odds, when—
“Huh?”
Dehan suddenly felt something off. The number of demonic presences he had just counted—sixteen—was now slowly increasing.
“They’re increasing? Now?”
Dehan’s face turned pale. He hadn’t been confident about winning before reinforcements showed up. But now?
“We need to run—”
He began to inch away from the rock he’d been hiding behind.
Or, at least, he tried to.
“Hey, stay still.”
“…Lady Shekina?”
Dehan frowned as he looked down at the small head that had somehow approached him without him noticing.
“I told you to stay hidden—”
“And I told you to stay still.”
Shekina suddenly shoved Dehan against the rock and leaned her body against his shoulder, ears perked up, listening intently.
Now squished together, Dehan could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.
But Shekina didn’t seem to care. She was focused entirely on sensing the demonic presence around them.
“We don’t have time for this. We need to run now.”
Dehan, having pulled himself together, spoke urgently.
“No need to run, from what I can see.”
“What?”
“Them.”
Shekina grinned and pointed up at the cliff.
Ding!
[SYSTEM]
Sub Quest <Survive!> has been cancelled.
Why the hell are they fighting each other…? This is ridiculous.
“They’re fighting amongst themselves.”
Is this actually working out…?
Maybe making a lot of enemies wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
***
The demons under the command of the 4th Elder, Karte, had destroyed the carriage carrying Shekina and were celebrating what they believed was a successful ambush.
Of course, they knew such an attack wouldn’t kill someone like her. But even so, they were proud just for gaining the upper hand—at least at the start.
“Should we wait for them to climb up and then strike?”
“That’s probably best. Let’s keep an eye on them.”
“Hmm. This is easier than I thought.”
The demons chuckled, even humming to themselves in amusement.
They had a mission.
A command to kill Shekina.
And not just Shekina—everyone protecting her, both demons and humans alike.
Killing humans was no big deal. But Arthur… he was another story.
Still, it was just one of him. And there were sixteen of them.
Victory seemed assured.
“Lord Karte didn’t even need to come himself for this.”
“Didn’t he say he was on his way, though?”
“Yeah. Just to finish things off.”
At the mention of Karte, the demons visibly stiffened and drew closer together.
“Can’t believe we’ll have to watch him fight again.”
“Ugh, I hate watching him. Gives me the creeps.”
“He’s absolutely brutal.”
Karte had a reputation—even among his own subordinates, who found his bloodthirst terrifying. They exchanged uneasy glances and spoke in hushed tones.
“Should we clear out before he arrives?”
“Probably a good idea. He doesn’t like being disturbed.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
“Still… just in case…”
One demon extended his hand toward the bottom of the cliff.
“Should I make it easier to finish them off?”
Just as his thick hand gathered demonic energy—
“If you attack so recklessly, wouldn’t my body get hurt?”
A stranger’s voice whispered by his ear. The demon flinched and tried to turn—but he couldn’t move. His body felt pinned down by an invisible, crushing weight.
“W-What the…?”
“Nothing personal, really. But I can’t let you damage my body, now can I?”
Snow-white hair fluttered into view. A hand, marked with a familiar symbol, hovered before the demon’s eyes.
“It can’t be—!”
The sixteen demons simultaneously released their dark energy.
BOOM!
The resulting surge of corrupted magic rotted the very earth itself. But the man in front of them was completely unharmed.
As if such attacks couldn’t touch him at all.
Lucifer.
The ancient enemy of demon race had appeared.
“If I wipe them out here, it’ll probably only benefit someone else…”
“Should I leave a few alive, then?”
Virtus, standing beside Lucifer, spoke calmly as he formed a protective barrier.
“Hmm.”
Lucifer tilted his head slightly and blinked, slowly taking in the terrified faces of the demons—faces that couldn’t even hide their panic. His lips curled into a wicked smile.
“No.”
He opened his hands wide.
“Let’s kill them all.”
***
And just like that—
This was a case of shrimp surviving while whales fought.
“Ugh, that was way too close.”
Shekina wiped the cold sweat from her brow and muttered to herself.
