The stone pulsed, and the slime around it bubbled, a frothing, black mass that smelled of old blood and burnt sugar. The buzzing in my ears intensified, a high-pitched whine that made my teeth ache. Angus fluttered behind me, his wings a frantic blur. [This is bad! This is very, very bad! It's like the source of all the bad dreams! The epicenter of evil socks! (≧ω≦)]
The demon king ignored him. He circled the stone, a slow, deliberate motion. He was studying it, analyzing it, his purple eyes narrowed in concentration. He was a scientist examining a particularly interesting specimen, not a hero confronting a source of evil.
"It is crude," he said, his voice a low, bored murmur. "A blunt instrument. The demon lord of this world has no subtlety. No art."
"Is that really the important part right now?" I asked, my voice a little shaky. The buzzing was making me feel dizzy, like my brain was being scrambled.
"That is its only remarkable part." He stopped in front of the stone, and for a second, I thought he was going to touch it. He didn't. He just stood there, a silent, imposing figure against the pulsating purple light. "It is a anchor point. A focal point for the demon lord's power."
"An anchor point," I repeated, the words feeling clumsy in my mouth. "Like... a magical telephone pole?"
"A more pathetic analogy I have yet to hear." He said, finally turning to look at me, a slow, considering look that made my skin prickle. "Nor have I any idea what it means. This is a focus point for the otherwise weak creature to spread his influence further, faster." He gestured to the slime. "This is its attempt to create a blighted domain. A cheap, lazy imitation of a proper territory."
[It's a Demon Lord Seed! 🌱] Angus's text box appeared, the little angel icon looking like he'd just swallowed a lemon. [It's a concentrated lump of demonic energy! If it sprouts, the whole forest will turn into a super-spooky haunted forest! Full of... evil squirrels and... and... zombie deer! (◎_◎;)]
"So we have to... weed it?" I asked, looking at the pulsating stone. "Before it sprouts zombie deer?"
"Sprouts what? This world is full of nonsensical gibberish." The demon king scoffed, walking back towards me, stepping carefully out of the slime. "There's little reason to interface with it. I had thought it would be something more dangerous than this, given its influence over you, but it seems you're even more pathetic than I earlier thought." He said, gesturing vaguely at me. "The influence over your mind is likely more to do with your weakness than its own strength."
"...But if we leave it, it will make a haunted forest." I say squinting at the ooze.
I'm not really sure how it differs from the thing the dryads had him destroy, honestly, other than visually. That one was more like a tree. This one's a stone. And it smells worse.
Probably the differences matter, since those dryads were apparently unaware of or less concerned by this one than the other one.
But I don't know them. And I'm tired. And the only person who knows anything here is him, and he's not even from this world and hates it.
"I don't recall asking for the opinion of the useless baggage." He replies, dismissively, "Your concerns about your surroundings are your own. I am not your groundskeeper."
He looked at the pulsating stone again, then back at me. A slow, considering look that made my skin prickle. He was plotting something. I could feel it in the way the air around him seemed to crackle, a low, dangerous energy that made the hairs on my arms stand up.
"Well, don't look at me. The only thing I can do is give myself a stomach ache."
"Each reminder of your weakness makes me wish for the day of your death to come sooner." he walked past me, pointing at Angus. "You. Feathered pest. The hero is weak. Her mind is a sieve. You will deal with it before those dreams consume her." The Demon King commanded.
"Me?! I...I'm not a fighter! I'm a guide! A moral support unit!" Angus stammered, "I can sing a really inspiring song about the glory of the Goddess! It's... well, it's very long!"
"Did you by chance offend the gods in your first life, wretched woman?" The Demon King looked back at me with a look of profound disappointment. "This goddess must have greatly hated you."
"They probably just thought I'd appreciate having a hot bodyguard." It was the only answer I had that wasn't agreeing with his conclusion.
He didn't dignify that with a response. Instead, he turned back to Angus, who was now vibrating with a mixture of terror and indignation. "You will destroy that 'seed' before the sun touches the horizon. Or when she turns into a....'zombie deer', you can deal with the consequences."
...After that vague, disdainful comment of his...
I actually don't think he knows what a zombie or a deer is.
. Or why it was so bad.
But I didn't like the implication that I'd become a zombie deer.
That sounded like a terrible way to go. Worse than being killed by a demon king because I made a lustful comment about him.
Probably.
Although death by compliment was probably still the more embarrassing death. I'd have to weigh the options if I had any at all.
Angus flew straight up, a pink streak against the darkening sky. "Destroy it? How? I'm a guide! Not a... not a divine pest control service!" He zipped back down, landing on a branch just out of the demon king's reach. [I can bless things! And purify things! But this... this thing looks super-duper-purify-resistant! (￣Д￣)]
"Then find a way." The demon king's tone was final, a stone dropping into a silent, stagnant pool. "Your incompetence is not my concern. Her transformation into a ruminant undead, however, would be an endless source of irritation. I find that outcome unacceptable."
I really, really did not like the sound of that.
He turned and walked to the edge of the clearing, leaning against the trunk of a particularly gnarled, black-leafed tree. He crossed his arms, a clear signal that his part in this particular drama was over. He was a spectator now. A critic waiting to pounce on a bad performance.
Angus looked from the demon king to the pulsating stone, then back at me. His blue eyes were wide with panic. "Violet! You! Can! command him...!"
I could.
That was technically true. But then I'd have to live with him afterward. Not that he'd get more murderous - probably - but I just....
Mostly just don't want to wake up being carried by him in some compromising way that'll get me killed on instinct.