The ground was shaking.
No one moved. The guild building was gone, and thick smoke filled the air. The smell of fire and dust was everywhere.
Aric stepped forward slowly, his sword tight in his hand.
"Nythos," he said quietly.
Viorel took a step back, watching the demon commander carefully.
Aric looked at Nythos and asked, "Why is the 7th commander from the Demon Lord's army here?"
Nythos smiled coldly. "Hah, why would I tell you that?"
"No point in talking with a demon," murmured Aric as he attacked Nythos with his sword.
Viorel stood back while Kail and the other adventurers who were lucky enough to survive before Aric came attacked the demon.
Nythos smirked. "You weaklings think you can beat me?" Then he made a blast using his dark magic.
The other adventurers were already injured, so they couldn't withstand the attack. Kail went flying against a destroyed wall. Aric got pushed a bit but managed to stay standing.
"Catch!" Viorel threw a healing potion towards Kail.
"Thanks." And then Kail drank it.
While Aric was fighting, Viorel and Kail gave some healing potions to the other adventurers and put them in a safe corner until they healed.
"I'm gonna go help Aric now," said Kail.
Viorel stayed near the adventurers and watched from afar.
Aric was using everything he had—light, fire, wind magic—but only light magic seemed to work a bit.
"Kail!" said Aric. "Be careful, only light magic seems to have an effect against him!"
Kail nodded. "Got it."
They continued fighting but the fight didn't last long. Kail lost fast. After all, what could a C-rank do against a commander? Aric fought for a bit longer, but he was no match for Nythos.
"Damn it!" he thought. "I can't fight any longer. My body hurts."
"First you lose to the Demon Lord and now to a commander. You are weaker than I thought," Nythos laughed.
At that moment, someone attacked him from behind with a spell. "Dust Shimmer." It was Viorel.
While the fight was going on, Aric constantly attacked Nythos at one spot. Viorel had noticed that and attacked him with a spell there.
"Aaghh!" screamed the demon in pain.
Then in a flash, he was in front of Viorel and attacked her.
"Dodge!" screamed Aric.
Thankfully, Viorel managed to dodge and weaken the attack by making a shield with her water magic, but the blast from the attack was so strong that it made her unconscious.
As Nythos was getting ready to finish her off with one more attack, Aric came there and blocked it with his sword.
"Where do you think you're going? We haven't finished our fight yet, now have we?" said Aric, but he was injured badly and could barely move. He could barely keep his eyes open, his body hurt, and his head was bleeding.
"Fight? What fight? You can't even move," said Nythos.
He caught Aric around his neck and said, "The fight is over. You've lost."
"Am I... am I gonna die now?" Aric thought.
The demon looked at him. "There is nothing more I'd like to do than kill you right now, but I can't. If I do, the Demon Lord will kill me."
Aric looked confused. "What are you talking about?"
"I was supposed only to spy on you and make sure you don't get stronger than the Demon Lord. Though he does want someone strong to entertain him, he doesn't want you to get stronger than him. So he ordered me to spy on you and kill you if you started to pose any danger. But you're weak, and I can't kill you yet," said Nythos, letting Aric go.
Aric fell to the ground. He couldn't move anymore. At that moment, knights the Sylvanthe family had sent arrived.
Nythos saw them. "We'll meet again, hero. And next time, I'll kill you." Then he took the secret item with him and vanished.
Aric was at ease to know that the commander was finally gone and then fell unconscious.
The knights carried Lady Viorel, Aric, and Kail back to the mansion so the doctors there could heal them. Meanwhile, healing mages started healing the adventurers.
After that, a day had passed and Aric finally awoke.
"Where am I?" he thought while opening his eyes.
"Aric, you're awake!" screamed Kail, happy.
Aric saw Kail and Viorel sitting near the bed where he was.
"Don't move. I'll go call the doctor," said Viorel with a soft yet happy voice.
"You've been unconscious for a whole day. How are you feeling? Does your head hurt?" asked Kail.
"Guess I'm in the medical room in Viorel's mansion," he thought as he looked around.
At that moment, memories of the fight with Nythos came to Aric.
"I'm fine, but what happened? Did that demon leave? Are the citizens okay?"
"Don't worry. Everyone's safe, but most of the guild members were in pretty bad condition," said Kail.
Aric had a relief look on his face.
"Ah, Viorel's back."
Viorel came with the doctor. He checked on Aric and told them that he is healthy.
After that, Viorel's father came. "Great hero, you're finally awake."
"Lord Alderon! What are you doing here?" said Aric.
"I'm here to thank you for saving my town, its citizens, and my daughter of course," said Alderon with a smile. "At first I was quite furious when you put my daughter in danger, but then Viorel told me that you saved her," he continued.
"It's really nothing, sir. I was just doing my job as a hero."
"Why don't you and your friend stay here for a while? Until both of you fully heal from the battle," recommended Alderon.
"Oh no. We wouldn't want to be a burden to you, Lord Alderon," Aric politely tried to refuse.
"Yes," Kail agreed. "We'd just be a burden, Lord Alderon."
"Please, I insist. How else am I supposed to properly thank you for what you did?"
"No point in saying no," Viorel added. "My dad's pretty set on things once he decides."
"Well, I guess we'll accept then. Thank you for letting us stay," Aric smiled.
Some servants showed Aric and Kail the rooms where they were going to stay, and each of them was assigned a personal attendant for their stay.