Outside the city, from a cliff overlooking the ruins, the rumbling had long stopped, but no one dared to get inside yet.
From the nineteen knights, only five had survived. All the coachn had perished.
Those who remained were only Faller, Hamon, Gary, and two other knights. Earlier, Gary had taken one of the horses and ridden ahead. Though he wasn’t unscathed, he was the least injured, and he needed to reach the nearest territory to summon reinforcents.
Now, he raced along the dirt path, the horse thundering beneath him, groaning in pain with every jolt, yet pressing forward like a bolt of lightning.
anwhile, Zayn was lying on top of a stone with a mat on. He seed unconscious but uninjured.
"Hey, wake up!" the fat knight were shaking him. "Kid, co on, you’re the only one who can give us answers!"
’Why the hell would I wake up? I will not move from here for two days if necessary!’ Zayn muttered internally, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.
Jane approached and knelt beside him, frowning at Hamon who backed away from the girl. She gently adjusted his position, easing his head off the stone and resting it against her thigh so he looked more comfortable.
’Thank you, Jane.’ Zayn cried to himself.
Ellie then spoke calmly. "At this point, the battle must be over. Should we go check now?"
"But we don’t know what had happened yet," Mike replied nervously.
"Actually, what are we even doing here? Let’s just go. The demon lord obviously won. No matter how strong that kid is, he’s facing a demon lord—a demon lord!" the one surviving knight muttered.
Faller didn’t open his mouth. His fists were clenched as his gaze was locked on the crumbled town walls.
"Tell ," soone asked silently beside him. It was Corre who was busy arranging the magic inside his body into place, "... who do you think won?"
"I don’t care," Faller replied grimly. "I’m not here to gawk. I’m here to see if I can recover my n. That’s all."
Then movent caught their attention.
A lone figure carrying no weapon had walked out of the town gates, walking steadily.
"It’s... him."
"Who?"
"The mysterious boy."
"Ard...?"
’Ard, you beat him. Now get here and explain!’ Zayn said to himself.
--
--
--
Soon, the sounds of the hooves of horses galloping down the cliff could be heard. I narrowed my eyes and zood in. I could see the knights and adventurers riding horses, while on top of the cliff. By narrowing my eyes, I could see Zayn laying down a rock with the doctor.
’Did he get injured or is that boy just asleep?’ I thought to myself.
Then two horses carrying the surviving knights and adventurers arrived.
"What happened?" Faller asked first, his voice serious, sharp, but tinged with restrained suspicion while riding his black stallion.
It was the first ti we had spoken to each other. His gaze was as serious as ever but compared to usual, right now, there was so hostility in his eyes. Looking at the situation, I didn’t dare to step closer as it might provoke him and the others and spoke from where I was standing.
"The baron... has perished."
"What you an the baron has perished?"
"Well, I’m talking about the Demon Lord of course, I killed him."
A wave of relief went through the n hearing this.
It was understandable. They were betting on the human to win!
But it wasn’t total relief.
"Are you sure?"
I sighed.
As powerful as he probably looked when they were still inside the town, a demon lord is a demon lord.
Unlike when one says demon lord, he doesn’t have that reputation. He was no hero and just a suspiciously strong stranger. They do not understand his abilities nor aware of who he was.
All they saw was that he can use physical reinforcent magic which made him faster and stronger at face than anyone in their group. He was a martial artist, but at the sa ti, a mage of the Shadow attribute. But they weren’t able to watch the full battle.
Standing there, seeing the victor, a mix of emotions crossed their faces. Especially after seeing how the victor looked like at the end of the battle.
"Demons can possess humans under certain conditions," Faller said slowly, scrutinizing from head to toe. "Yet... you’re barely scratched. After going up against a Demon Lord, you’re... practically unhard."
I felt a faint twinge of regret to that part I overlooked. Yet I narrowed my eyes making them increase their guard and flinch.
’Should I have co back with just my right hand?’ I wanted to say but chose not to.
I then raised my hand—and Faller’s hand frantically shot out.
"Don’t co closer!"
Him shouting almost scared . Truly.
He then revealed the circular device he was holding and pressed it. It was clearly the demon detecting device. Seeing that still pisses off and for so reason the irritation showed on my face, alerting them.
’I won’t attack you.’ I said inwardly.
I could feel their mild panic radiating.
"Sorry... Ard," Mike then said, scratching the back of her head, his voice sheepish.
"It’s just a precaution." Corre added.
Looking at it now, these people were more than hurt. It was a miracle they had lived and have complete limbs. It was a testant to the mana within them I guessed.
I glanced down the Ring of Suppression and looked at them.
"It’s fine," I replied evenly. "I understand."
The demon-detecting device flickered uselessly once more.
Hamon squinted at for a long mont—then broke into his usual warm smile, the tension finally draining from his shoulders.
’What a relief, he is just an absurdly strong person.’ He thought.
Corre also let out a low relieved laugh and hopped off his horse. Ellie then walked over to and casually draped an arm over my shoulders as if we’d known each other for years. "You did good!"
I looked at her face. She could barely stand too.
"So," she said with a grin, "ever thought about joining an adventurer party? What about ours? It’s called the Iron Brigade!"
It was the first ti I heard the na of the party.
Mike’s eyes lit up, clearly pleased by the idea.
"No," I answered imdiately.
I had been asked that sa question multiple tis in my life. Every ti actually. When I first traveled to the human realm, I entertained it and registered as an adventurer and did join a few parties here and there.
But I have decided what to do now.
That part of was over.
Now, I want to live normally.
Most of the knights were also relieved. But then Faller while also relieved wasn’t as friendly.
"I’ll acknowledge your contribution," he said. "When the Duke asks what happened here, I’ll tell him the truth and asks that he rewards you justifiably."
Then his eyes hardened.
"But if you had shown your strength from the beginning, my subordinates, the kind doctor, the coachn, probably no one wouldn’t have died."
That was all.
A heavy silence followed. Throats bobbed as everyone swallowed, eyes drifting toward .
In the end, I was still the one who had gone toe-to-toe with a Demon Lord—an existence capable of razing a city alone. If I wished it, killing everyone here would be effortless, isn’t it?
"Why are you upsetting him?" Corre hissed.
Without waiting for a response from , Faller turned.
Now that he was closer, he had confird it. ’I could not sense any more demonic energy. Is the Demon Lord truly gone? If so, I need to recover Lord Lewis’ body—and the bodies of my fallen subordinates. They deserve proper graves.’
He led the two knights into the city, while riding their horses.
I watched them go.
Before, I wouldn’t have cared.
I had never cared about opinions—especially human ones. Yet this ti, irritation stirred in my chest.
’In the end, the strong kill the weak. That held true.’
I wasn’t wrong on that but that old knight wasn’t entirely wrong either.
"Don’t worry about them. If not for you, we would have all died." Mike then said while looking at the city walls.
Seeing Faller and the others past by , those others from a little far then ca too. I kept my expressions neutral and calm. But this ti, just like before the fight, a strange, unfamiliar feeling lingered. I brushed my slightly long hair aside, tucking a few strands behind my ear and sighed.
Then, suddenly—
The remaining horse ca galloping in from the distance. As the riders dismounted, the female archer also hopped off her horse with practiced ease before running straight toward .
’...’
Before I could even refuse, she wrapped her arms around and pulled into a tight embrace. I felt the soft mountains around her chests pressing on along with the sound of her heartbeat drumming loudly.
"Ard!" she said softly, as her face titled up to smile up at .
’What is this?’
For a mont, I didn’t know where to put my hands.
At the sa ti, Zayn stirred awake.
While riding the horse, Hamon flinched in surprise—he had been smiling idly at the youths—but now he was looking at the boy and is convinced Zayn probably had been conscious the entire ti. His smile slowly stiffened and ford lines.
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