The sword was covered with a dark aura and a power no one expected. Lukas swung his sword, sending a dark crescent slash at high speed toward the demon.
Shkkt!—
The aura slashed both of the demon's hands, making the axe disappear. Lukas was surprised by the kind of power he had gained. He looked at his sword, now covered with a dark aura. He could hardly believe it, but his heart was beating faster.
(What is this power? With this power, I can—)
But all of a sudden, he heard a sound coming from the demon. Its hands recovered and grew back again. Lukas couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. His face showed disbelief at what had happened.
The demon smiled as he saw Lukas's expression.
"Hahahaha… Do you think I'm just a mere demon? How pitiful you are."
As the demon's hands had already regrown, Lukas quickly swung his sword. But before he could do so, his chest felt hot and his stomach ached. He quickly covered his mouth and vomited blood.
A few seconds passed. His eyes widened when he saw blood on his palm.
(What the—does this power have side effects?)
"Oh boy, how poor you are. I guess your body couldn't handle that power—it's time for me to end your suffering."
He quickly formed an axe in his hand once again and swung it. Lukas sensed it perfectly as before and parried it. Luckily, his sword was covered by aura, allowing him to withstand the impact. The demon attacked him again… and again… and again…
Lukas didn't get hurt, but the sword began cracking.
(Fuck!)
The demon smiled as he saw Lukas panic. He raised his axe into the air, then slammed it down with full power.
"Die, you false demon!"
He shouted madly, giving all his power not for Lukas, but to kill the entity behind Lukas's eye. Lukas tried to parry it, but his sword shattered.
Bam!—
The impact was so great that the ground cracked and dust filled the air, obscuring their vision. The demon smiled, but suddenly he felt something holding his axe. His smile vanished as the dust slowly cleared. He saw Lukas holding his axe with both hands.
Blood covered Lukas's hands as he endured the pain. His hands began bleeding. The demon's eyes widened at the sight.
"You shit, why don't you just die!"
Lukas smiled.
"Even if this power devours me, it's better than dying by your hand."
The demon felt Lukas's aura slowly increasing. Suddenly, his axe was knocked away from Lukas's hands, and he almost lost his balance. Lukas quickly jumped toward the demon and punched him in the face. The demon then shapeshifted his axe into a sword and swung it, but Lukas easily caught it and delivered another punch to his stomach.
But the demon smiled. Lukas raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, the face on the demon's stomach grew hands, grabbing Lukas's arm and trying to pull him in. Lukas resisted as much as he could.
"What the fuck are you doing?!"
"Calm down. You won't feel much pain if you stop resisting."
"Damn it."
Lukas tried to pull his hand free, but the hands tightened their grip. He couldn't escape. His mind began to spiral into chaos.
(Fuck… Fuck… If I were stronger… If I hadn't taken this quest… If it because of this eye, I wouldn't—)
Lukas's eyes became empty as he laughed while being sucked inside. Slowly, his body was swallowed, and his vision turned dark.
"Hahahahaha! After so long, I finally captured that false demon. My fellow demons would be happy if they knew."
The demon looked very pleased after capturing Lukas. But suddenly, he sensed someone. He saw one of the villagers, whose hand had been severed by another demon. The old man trembled as the demon looked at him. He quickly ran as fast as he could into the forest toward the village to seek help.
Lukas slowly opened his eyes, his crimson eye shining brightly in the darkness.
.
.
.
Two hours earlier, at the guild.
Celdric was waiting for Lukas at the guild, but as time passed and Lukas didn't return, he went down to the receptionist.
"Was Lukas here yesterday?"
"Yes, and I already told him what you said. He's still doing the quest."
"Which quest?!"
"The quest from Westran Village…"
Celdric's eyes widened when he heard that.
"What do you mean—."
The receptionist was surprised to see Celdric glaring at her.
"—Didn't I tell you that quest is only for experienced adventurers?"
"B-but… That…"
Celdric covered his face, then his eyes widened again.
(Fuck. Those mages are going to the village today for an examination. My plan—I can't let them meet Lukas.)
"S-sir… I'm—" the receptionist said regretfully.
Suddenly, Celdric rushed outside the guild, his face filled with worry. He headed toward Westran Village.
At the village, Heza and his fellow mages had arrived. They walked into the village, which seemed quiet. They didn't spot a single villager.
"Why does this village seem abandoned for a long time?"
They saw houses covered in webs, some of them very rickety. One of them suddenly smelled something.
"Sir Heza, there's a strange smell."
He seemed to have a strong sense of smell.
"What do you mean?"
"It smells like corpses… and blood."
Heza signaled them to calm down and continue. As they reached the middle of the village, they were surprised to see a large house, built better than the others.
"How can there be—"
Another mage suddenly shouted.
"Sir, the smell is getting stronger. It seems to be coming from this house."
Heza's eyes widened.
"Alright, let's go inside. Make sure to watch your step."
They slowly approached the house and carefully opened the door. It creaked as it swung open. Inside, the smell was even stronger, making one of the mages vomit. They continued walking slowly. The house was very dark, and the interior looked ruined.
Suddenly, one of them stepped on something. He quickly cast fire magic and saw a human body part. He began shaking.
"S-sir Heza."
His voice was low. Heza turned toward him, and his eyes widened when he saw the corpse. Heza and the others quickly cast fire magic. As the flames illuminated the room, they were shocked to see many corpses, most of them already reduced to bones.
Heza knelt down and examined one of the remains. He noticed bite marks on it, and his eyebrows furrowed.
"It seems something happened he—"
Suddenly, he felt a dark aura coming from the west—an intense aura unlike anything they had ever felt before. It made them tremble.
The door slowly opened. They turned and saw an old woman. She was startled to see the mages.
She ran as fast as she could, but suddenly she felt herself lifted off the ground. The mages caught her with magic.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I didn't do anything wrong."
She looked terrified, begging for her life.
"Tell us what happened in this village!."
One of them shouted, frowning at the old woman. Heza held his shoulder.
"Calm down. Let me handle this. Tell me, who are you?"
His gentle voice calmed her down. Slowly, they lowered her to the ground.
"I… I'm the wife of the village chief."
"Tell me, where is he?"
She gulped and slowly opened her mouth.
"He… he said he was going to look for the missing villagers… with a young adventurer."
"Do you know that young adventurer?"
"No, he didn't tell me anything. But earlier, I saw them heading west."
"Why?"
"I don't know. But there's a cave there, not far from here—"
Suddenly, they felt another surge of dark aura from the west, making them frown.
"Sir!"
Heza nodded.
"Thank you, madam. I'm sorry for frightening you."
They quickly ran toward the west.
.
.
.
The old villager ran through the forest, holding his injured hand.
"Fuck, I hope those demons are dead. That old chief too—"
Suddenly, he bumped into something and fell backward, rubbing his head.
"Damn, I—"
He raised his face and saw Heza and the other mages glaring at him.
-CONTINUE-