"So in the end, is it demons raising humans, or humans raising demons?", muttered the cavalry officer called Menard. He couldn't be bothered to dwell on it and directly swung his sword downward, "KILL THEM ALL!!"
"Eat them," Aura, who had already experienced plenty of battles in the forest, showed no fear at all. With a cold expression, she issued orders to the puppets.
Iron hooves trampled across the fields, instantly kicking up clouds of dust, and the beast horde around the village surged out in response.
As the cavalry and the beasts charged toward each other, the villagers fell into chaos as well, either scrambling to find weapons in an attempt to help, or panicking as they tried to flee the area.
Aura paid them no mind. Whether they won or lost, they can't stay in this place anymore. She only watched the charging puppets and frowned.
"I'm saying, Ash, why do I have to slaughter humans to protect humans? Normally we should just run away, right?"
"Stop bothering me, Aura. I'm thinking about that too right now."
He only wanted to grow steadily, yet ended up getting dragged into a human war. This bizarre situation left Ash helpless, and he could only rub his forehead with one hand and sigh at how life was always full of accidents.
Even though Aura was right, he couldn't just dust off his ass and leave like that. After all, they had lived here for several years.
As they spoke, the village around them was already drowning in the stench of blood, wails and screams rolling through it without pause, like a true battlefield.
Ash silently raised one hand. The air instantly seemed to freeze slightly, and the blood splashing through the air suddenly changed its parabolic trajectory and dropped straight down.
Relying on armor strengthened by enchantments, as sturdy as heavy plate, the knights had held the advantage in fighting the beasts. But almost at the same time, the warhorses beneath them could no longer bear the weight and collapsed to the ground in a sorry heap, kicking up dust.
A fairly wide area of gravity had been altered. The actual magnitude of the change wasn't very large, but it had an unexpectedly strong effect on horses charging with riders.
The villagers, who wore no armor at all and were less affected, seized the opportunity. With somewhat heavy steps, they rushed forward, grabbed crude weapons, and stabbed at the gaps in the armor. The beasts, also less affected, attacked the knights' helmets more fiercely.
In an instant, human screams erupted everywhere.
But compared to his subordinates, this cavalry leader who had infiltrated enemy territory, an elite among elites, Captain Menard, rolled the moment his horse fell and stabilized himself in a half-kneeling stance.
"W-Waaah!", A villager shouted in terror, swinging a hoe down at his head.
Menard merely raised his hand, severed the hoe, then reversed his grip and struck again, effortlessly cutting the villager who had rushed to the front in half at the waist.
"He's impressive. But... he still has to be eliminated," Even though a familiar face had just died before him, Ash showed no emotion. He simply drew the best sword in the village and strode forward.
Menard also took up a stance, preparing for close combat.
Behind him, a mage who had been riding a warhorse and wearing armor to defend against stray arrows was now pinned by the pressure and unable to rise. Seeing this scene, the mage struggled to remove his helmet and tried to undo his gauntlets under the crushing weight.
At that very moment, Ash suddenly stopped. After twisting his waist slightly to build power, he canceled his magic and hurled the longsword with all his might.
Driven by repulsive force, the blade flew faster than expected. Menard stared at the sword, instinctively raising his arm to block, only to freeze in shock.
The spinning sword whistled past him with a sharp "whoosh," and plunged straight into the forehead of the accompanying mage behind him, who had just removed his helmet.
Blood sprayed out. The mage, who had instinctively looked up, stared blankly with wide eyes, not even understanding how he died, and then toppled over while still tilted backward.
Turning back in disbelief, Menard's visor was instantly splattered with his companion's blood, his face twisting with rage.
"YOU BASTARD!"
"Fighting me in armor, and yours is thickened heavy plate at that. Which means... this time, I have the advantage," Ash pressed down with one hand in the air, focusing his magic to maximize the gravity effect.
"Ugh!"
Menard's feet sank instantly, his body bending under the pressure. Clearly unable to withstand it, he was forced to stab his sword into the ground to barely keep himself from collapsing.
Ash nodded in satisfaction and pulled out a long, slender, razor-sharp armor-piercing awl from his waist.
In this world, many human soldiers wore heavy armor, so this thing was surprisingly useful. He'd never had the chance to use it before, but now it finally came in handy.
"Rest easy. I'll end your life right away," He measured the distance, preparing to stab it straight into Menard's neck.
Suppress with magic, then finish the opponent. It was a routine he had long mastered. But just as he thrust forward, his hand suddenly felt empty.
The awl was snatched away in an instant and, in a flash like lightning, precisely driven back into his own neck.
It was so fast that he couldn't react at all. Aura, not far away, stared with her mouth agape in shock.
No way. This isn't normal for a human. Wearing heavy armor and under abnormal gravity, yet still that fast? Lacking experience in fighting humans, Ash realized too late that he had been tricked.
Of course, as a mage, engaging in close combat with humans was foolish to begin with. But compared to other demons, his accumulation was too small. Sometimes he could only make up for it with weapons, or resort to tricks like before to assassinate mages.
Unfortunately, with his neck pierced, he couldn't make a sound. He only gurgled like a broken bellows, blood bubbling from his mouth as he swayed and collapsed to the ground.
His eyes stared wide open, watching Menard pull the sword from the ground and look down at him coldly through the helmet, a triumphant smile spreading as he raised his blade.
"You're far too young. You thought this was enough to restrain me?"
This scene, clearly about to send him to his grave, made Ash's struggling attempt to rise freeze stiff.
As a demon, he could barely be considered an infant, not grown at all, not even fully developed. This was the first time he had come so close to death. And this time... it might be the most helpless of all.
At that decisive moment, just as the blade was about to fall, a demonic bull suddenly charged in, crashing into Menard with a loud "bang!" and sent him flying.
Caught completely off guard, Menard soared into the air and then smashed heavily into a nearby house.
"Gugah! Just a low-level monster! How dare you attack me!"
An attack he should have been able to react to was forced through due to the shifting gravity and the burden of his armor. Enraged, Menard spread his stance and reached out, trying to grab the car-sized demonic bull charging at him again.
But at that very moment, the gravity on him vanished. Completely unprepared, he was rammed in the chest by the bull and slammed into the wall once more, even smashing a large hole through the stone structure. No one knew where he flew off to afterward.
With Ash's gravity no longer supporting them, the battlefield erupted again as the heavily injured cavalry seized the chance to clash fiercely with the beasts and the villagers who had risen in resistance.
Shouts and battle cries roared into the sky, but... it didn't last long before the scene gradually returned to its former calm.
———
Under a sky dyed blood-red by the setting sun—
Even with Ash's gravity magic, the beast horde was slaughtered once the gravity vanished, and the young and able-bodied villagers lay strewn across the ground.
Yet the elite light cavalry, who should have been able to massacre the village with ease, were reduced to only three survivors in the blink of an eye.
The three blood-soaked cavalrymen all looked to be in terrible shape, their armor showing many signs of damage.
"Just a village... and it turned out like this," The cavalry captain, Menard, an elite among elites, shook his head and fixed his gaze on Aura, who stood among the old, weak, sick, and disabled with a troubled expression. Clearly seeing she had little combat power, he tightened his grip on his sword and advanced, "You damned demons! Die!"
"Huff!"
A faint, mistimed sound of breathing, easily overlooked, mixed into the suffocating chaos of the battlefield.
Ash, whose neck should have been pierced by the armor-piercing awl and who should have been dead, silently stood up once more.
His figure swayed in the glow of the sunset. Having lain in wait for this moment, he appeared like a ghost behind Menard.
He pulled the awl from his own neck, blood spraying out, and without the slightest hesitation, in the instant Menard sensed something was wrong, he drove the awl viciously into the gap in the armor at Menard's neck.
"Gah?"
Menard's eyes flew wide open, finally filled with terror and despair, yet he couldn't even turn his head.
Blood poured from his neck like a fountain, his strength drained away, and he dropped straight to his knees. From behind him came a low whisper, as if from hell itself.
"Your understanding of demons, of me, still isn't thorough enough. This level of injury isn't enough to kill me."
"Wha?"
"C-Captain?"
The two remaining cavalrymen, who had planned to at least kill that demon at the end, cried out in shock and turned back.
At that moment, Ash stepped on Menard's shoulder, using it to pull the awl free, leaving him to collapse limply onto the ground.
"You dare!"
"Bastard!"
The two enraged cavalrymen cursed and raised their swords to avenge their captain, but Ash merely glanced at them silently and lifted his hand slightly.
Abnormal gravity once again dominated their bodies. Already exhausted in body and mind, the two were forced to their knees under their armor and even heavier pressure than before.
What followed was merely a simple repetition of work. Ignoring their curses and pleas, he drove the awl into the gaps in their armor, and everything ended completely.
After finishing it all with ease, Ash sat down on a fallen cavalryman's back and let out a long sigh amid the pool of blood.
"Seriously... why do I have to go this far for humans killing each other?"
"But still~ this world is really interesting, isn't it? You think so too, right?", Aura stepped forward through the crowd, squatted in front of him, propped her cheeks in her hands, and looked up at him with a mischievous smile.
"Maybe."
He ignored Aura, only lowering his head to stare at his blood-soaked hands, letting his thoughts gradually drift away from the place.
Today was his first time killing people, yet for some reason, he felt no fear or hesitation at all. Whether this was because of demon instinct, or because he had already killed many living beings over the years, he couldn't tell.
Although the village had won, not a single person there could feel happy. Thick sorrow filled the entire settlement.
Nearly every household had lost someone. Still, they could only force themselves to keep going, handling the bodies under the village chief's direction and preparing to sell the cavalry's armor and weapons a few days later.
Watching the busy villagers, Ash touched the bandages on his neck and began to think about when he should leave.
Aura stood nearby, watching him with an ambiguous smile, casually playing with her balance scale as she spoke slowly, "Say~ if I used obedience magic on you right now, what do you think would happen?"
"Your magic still has plenty of flaws before it's perfected, right? Like the rule that the strong dominate the weak, which means the chance of you being controlled yourself is pretty high. Are you sure my magic power is already exhausted?"
"Mm~ that is a problem," Aura smiled innocently, shaking the scale in her hand as she frowned in thought, "Even though the control issue has improved, a fair gamble really is a huge disadvantage for a young demon like me."
"Your magic has too many drawbacks. You should switch to something else sooner rather than later," Ash, pale from blood loss, shook his head as he offered advice.
"Thanks for the concern, but once it scales up, at the same level it's basically impossible to lose~ So~ are you jealous?"
"Think whatever you want."
Even though a pierced neck wasn't a big issue for a demon unless it was severed completely, he was extremely tired right now and really didn't feel like chatting with her.
So he swayed as he stood and walked toward the village, planning to rest for a while before thinking about what came next.
Aura, bored, hopped along behind him, chattering nonstop, making him feel that Aura's level of annoyance had risen sharply yet again.
———
After resting in the village for a while, Ash ignored the villagers' attempts to make him stay. Taking food, most of the village's cash, and the cavalry captain's sword, he left the settlement under the reluctant waves of farewell.
After all, the deaths of enemy cavalry here would surely become known. The village would attract plenty of attention afterward, and they couldn't stay any longer.
Of course, taking all the money sounded cruel, but in reality, the remaining cavalry armor and weapons were far more valuable and would be enough to fund the villagers' rebuilding.
———
[However, Half a Year Later]
When the two passed nearby with a new beast horde and, driven by curiosity, came to the outskirts of the village, they found, the situation was completely different from the restored prosperity they had imagined.
The morning sun failed to break through the clouds and shine upon the land. A terrifying atmosphere hung over the area behind the village. Compared to its once more prosperous state, the village was now scattered with isolated tragedies.
The air was thick with the stench of blood. Villagers lay sprawled along both sides of the road, most of them dead with eyes wide open in shock.
There was no trace of pain left on their faces. They had clearly been killed in a single blow. On the ground were only civilian corpses and long-dried bloodstains. Judging by the methods used...
"Demons did this," Aura briefly examined the scene and came to that conclusion.
Children and adults alike, none were spared. It was a classic demon style: merciless, cruel, thorough. Life trampled and destroyed without restraint.
Looking at the two familiar statues in the center of the village, Ash remained silent. In the depths of his dark pupils flickered emotions too complex to describe.
Protected by demons, the village hadn't been destroyed by human hands. Though more than half had died, they should have been striving to recover. Yet not long after, they were completely annihilated by passing demons. Was this fate, or something else entirely?
"So pitiful," Ash murmured as he crouched down, gently brushing his fingers across the cold cheek of a young child, "If only the goddess you believed in really existed."
Aura felt only confusion, "What are you doing?"
"I'm just thinking... I absolutely don't want to die like this."
"Then we can only train harder."
"We need to think of some way."
"A way?"
"The biggest difference between demons and humans in magic is inheritance. We have no teachers and can only grope around on our own, which is why even at this age we're still third-rate. So wouldn't finding a teacher solve it?", Ash slowly stood up and turned back to look at the girl who always wandered around with him.
But his words made Aura laugh so hard she bent over, "Just find a teacher? Hahaha! Hahahaha! Ash, you're really interesting! We're demons! How could anyone possibly teach us? Are you serious?"