209 Demons
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Additional Chapter.
2/2
Apologies for the delay in the chapter! There were issues that required my attention. And now, I wish you an enjoyable read!
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"..."
Adam fell silent, unsure how to react to this situation. It was the first time he and Amarantha found themselves in a disagreement. Despite feeling uneasy, he was confident in his woman and could assertively say that if she spoke, she would follow through.
"Yeah, I don't know what to do. Considering that Amarantha and my other allies will be unavailable for some time, challenging times lie ahead for us," he muttered and stood up, signaling to burn all the corpses and extract their cores. Glancing over his shoulder, he narrowed his eyes as he saw four portals opening in the sky again. He sighed, "Doesn't it annoy them? Don't they have a cooldown or something like that? I don't even know what to say..."
Adam drew his sword again and shouted for the knights to prepare for another battle. The atmosphere was tense, and many of them were already weary, but monsters emerged from the portals relentlessly and aggressively, maintaining a relentless pace that struck fear deep into the hearts of everyone.
Doubts crept in – was it really necessary? Why not just run away? Life goes on; is there any point in continuing through these trials?!
"What an unusual party..."
BOOOOOOM!
A loud explosion echoed, instantly incinerating a new batch of demons. On the other side was Adam, looking irritated and frightened. These demons could interfere with thoughts.
"What a dreadful power! Even I doubted myself for a moment. The power of illusion interference... it's very dangerous!" he thought, surveying the battlefield. Ninety percent of the knights were affected by this ability, sitting on the ground, trembling in fear. He clicked his tongue, shifting his gaze to Aurora and Elyra, who looked annoyed. He shouted to them, "Aurora! Elyra! Use your spells as quickly as possible and awaken them from the illusions! I'll deal with the attackers!"
"Alright! But at this rate, you'll just tire yourself out!" Aurora exclaimed and sighed, seeing Adam already running towards a new batch of demons. Glancing at Elyra, they both started gradually waking the knights from their slumber.
Adam skillfully moved through them, his attacks hitting their marks while he burned the bodies. Before him were more than ten demons – humanoid with grotesque features. The goat faces the tiger's hands and legs, with a wolf's body. Pimples and boils covered their faces, emitting a foul smell.
"Ha-ah!"
Adam swung his sword, successfully beheading a demon, but two more took its place. The battle grew more tense with each passing second, and Adam became more and more exhausted. Despite having a large reservoir of magical energy, he had already spent 4/5, and his fatigue increased significantly.
"Gh-... Darn it!" he sighed and jumped back, narrowly avoiding a strike aimed at his abdomen.
Looking ahead, he saw a demon with long claws, slightly different from the others. Its claws had green liquid on the tips, presumably poison.
Not wanting to deal with them, Adam decided to retreat. Glancing around, he saw that most knights had regained their composure. Turning his gaze to Aurora, he shouted, "Aurora! Use the Light Field!"
"Alright! One, two... three!"
Her eyes sparkled, and a radiance enveloped her body, expanding in all directions, and covering the entire battlefield. The results were immediately noticeable – demons slowed down and began screaming in horror.
"Ghiaaaa!"
The sound of their screams was horrifying, like sirens, and their bodies gradually ignited as if they were being shot by a powerful laser.
"Painful... even though I trained, I still find it hard to endure this pain," Adam thought, stepping out of the spell's range.
The Light Field. It created an area saturated with the light attribute, making it extremely difficult for demons and other unclean beings to resist the spell. They either burned to ashes or weakened significantly.
Considering that this spell was cast not by an ordinary mage but by a nymph, its effect was twice as potent.
"Remind me never to anger Aurora, okay?" Adam whispered to Elyra and smiled, noticing her intense gaze on his back. Turning to Aurora, he just smiled at her.
"Hmph..."
***
Adam waited for another two hours but saw no movement from the demons. He ordered the knights to guard the city and stay alert. If they found any portals, they were to report it immediately.
Entering the house, they were greeted by Ekaterina.
"Master, I've prepared a hot bath for you," she said, bowing and approaching him, checking for wounds.
"I'm fine. I came out of it without any injuries. The demons weren't as strong, but they still posed a danger to the people," he said, kissing her on the forehead, making the maid blush and nod.
"Very well. Please, follow me."
Ekaterina smiled and turned on her heels, with Adam, Elyra, and Aurora following her. Entering the bathroom, they immediately relaxed, feeling the pleasant warmth contrasting sharply with the weather outside.
Adam began undressing, as did his women. He glanced at his abdomen and frowned, seeing a vertical cut oozing black liquid.
"What the hell? Why didn't I feel the impact... besides, the wound doesn't hurt at all," he muttered and touched the wound. Still, there was no reaction – he felt no pain, although the fact of getting wounded frightened him.
Recalling all the moments of the battle, Adam couldn't remember when he got hit. So, he couldn't understand how and when he received this wound.
"What is this?!" Elyra exclaimed in horror, rushing to him. She looked worried, and her cry brought Aurora running.
"What a terrible wound... but there's not even a scratch on your armor, what...?" Aurora was surprised and gritted her teeth, looking concerned.
When attempting to heal the wound, it would close up, but a second later, it would reappear with renewed strength. Surprisingly, everything happened too quickly, and there was no explanation for it.
"I hope this isn't a curse... damn, I'm useless in such matters. Elyra, hurry and go get Nyx here!" exclaimed Aurora, furrowing her brow.
"U-understood!"
Elyra rushed out of the bath to find Nyx while they seated Adam in a chair. He sighed and shook his head; the situation was not in his favor, so he had to rely on Nyx to discover something.
Meanwhile, Aurora touched his wound and frowned. The black liquid wasn't his blood, so she was concerned.
"I can't understand what this liquid is. Viscous, odorless, but it emits magical energy," mumbled Adam slept soundly, his breathing calm and quiet. He dreamed of a vast field adorned with flowers. It 10:07
was warm and cozy, and the gentle rays of the sun warmed his face.
Aurora, wiping the liquid on a nearby napkin and raising her gaze to Adam, lifting her hands to his cheek and stroking it. "Darling, does it hurt?"
"No, not at all. Even when you touch it, the wound doesn't hurt at all. It's a bit unusual," replied Adam, taking her hand and smiling, speaking in a tender voice. "Please, don't blame yourself, okay? You did everything you could, and no one in the world has the right to blame you. Not even yourself."
"But..."
Adam sighed and squeezed her cheeks, pulling them from both sides. Chuckling at her silly expression, he continued.
"No 'buts.' You did everything in your power and helped me a lot, so be assured, you did great!"
"Um..." Aurora nodded and kissed him on the lips.
***
"I don't understand. It looks like your regular blood, but the only difference is that there's no smell, and it has a strange magical trace."
After waiting for two minutes, Nyx arrived and examined the wound and the liquid oozing from it. However, she couldn't provide any precise description of what it was.
"I don't know either. I assume it's a curse or something similar. You can expect such things from demons," said Adam, cracking his neck and then looking at Elyra. "Dear, have similar symptoms been found in other people?"
"I thought about that possibility too, so I asked the doctors. Unfortunately or fortunately, no one else has such a wound," replied Elyra with a sigh.
"I see..."
Adam stood up and put on a shirt. Taking a bath in this condition would be unhygienic at the very least, and at most, he could harm himself.
Therefore, it was necessary to take a little rest and return to work. Fortunately for him, there were no consequences, and he felt the same as always. And when there were no more reports of portals during the day, he went to sleep. Deep into the night...
The stars shone brightly in the sky, while the moon was hidden behind clouds as if covering itself to avoid seeing the land covered in the blood of demons.
Adam slept soundly, his breathing calm and quiet. He dreamed of a vast field adorned with flowers. It was warm and cozy, and the gentle rays of the sun warmed his face.
A person walked across this field. He looked entirely ordinary, with no distinctive features. He kept walking, and it seemed like his path never ended.
"Do you see this picture? This is the path of a demon – you keep moving forward, and your journey never ends, for you are endowed with a long life."
Adam was surprised and stopped observing the scene, turning to the person speaking to him.
"Casanova."
The last time they met was when he was searching for an artifact for Anna. Everything ended well, but their parting was filled with darkness.
"We haven't seen each other in a while, kiddo. You're as grown-up as ever."
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