It was the second day of journey through the forgotten Black Forest, the trees stretched in every direction, with mountains and deep valleys covered in green.
BLACK FOREST
It was then that Leofwynn inquired of the human who had accepted the ride on the winged serpent:
— Are you sure it's this way? Where exactly are you going?
Æthelflæd, the human, drank from the glass vessel with a strong aroma, her face was flushed, and she didn't lose her smile easily:
— Certainly! It won't be long until we arrive, and, once again, cordially, and with some fear that in another life I might not have met you in a similar situation, I admit, without you I don't know how I would cross all this vastness.
She ended her speech with a small hiccup.
There were three young women. The volcano girl, Leofwynn, with her sheathed sword, had red-orange hair. The human with black hair was Æthelflæd. And the unicorn girl was Cwenburg, a water mage.
Unicorn girls were born with their souls divided. Half in their own body, which differed little from a common human, except for the horn in the center of their forehead and their light blue hair. Half in a serpentarium, a creature that carried them among the clouds.
Cwenburg's serpent was six meters long, and was like a huge snake with white scales, and two long snowy white wings.
It was broad, and the three small girls could sit, half-kneeling, side by side.
— It makes no sense, human. Only the Demon King's Castle is around here. Not even the bravest lineages risk living in the Land of Eternal Night. — volcano people had magma and lava in their veins, and as Leofwynn's blood heated up, lava and magma changed state, illuminating her from beneath her skin. — Who would be crazy enough to have the very abomination as a neighbor? Tell us at once, where are we going?
The two, the volcano girl and the unicorn, were exploring the Salt Waterfalls when they found the human and offered to take her, without asking for details, as it was said that she was only a few days away from her destination.
Æthelflæd seemed weak. With short black hair, a slender body, unarmed, without armor, without emanating any aura, betraying a total lack of contact with magic.
In fact, Æthelflæd in no way resembled an adventurer, which worried her two friends.
— It's there.
— Where is 'there', human? — Leofwynn lost her patience easily, but, upon seeing the silhouette of the Black Castle emerging in the distance, her anger was fueled to the limit.
The walls were enveloped in the Demon King's magic, which turned all hours of the day into perpetual night, for a kilometer around its very existence.
— I have a good plan. Actually, I don't know why no one ever thought of something so obvious. — arrogance shone through Æthelflæd as she drank more of the alchemy she carried. — I'm going to kill the Demon King.
Cwenburg, sleepy, yawned with her little tongue sticking out before falling asleep, and lay down hugging the winged serpent.
Normally female unicorns remained lethargic. Male unicorns differed completely, they had an equine appearance, but with a horn on their forehead, and an unmatched perception.
— Wait… — with her face frozen, the volcano girl pondered, something rare for her lineage, for nearly two seconds, and then shouted! — How is a useless human going to fight the Demon King!
DEMON KING'S CASTLE
— Blith! — it had been years since that name echoed through the castle. The Demon King's voice, on the throne of bones, could be heard in any corner of the six floors of the dark structure.
Awakening in his own room, in the basement that was all dust, with nothing but remnants of the good years, two eyes lit up in the darkness.
Leaving the throne, the Demon King walked irritably, sensing the presence approaching through the skies.
So many, many years.
He expected an army, perhaps the union of all twenty lineages, with millions of soldiers, and all kinds of physical and magical warrior classes, beasts, tamed monsters, however, there were only four there, with no perceptible aura of any kind.
— A concentrated attack. Perhaps the greatest warriors of this era? The last war was eight thousand years ago… — the Demon King spoke to himself as he passed through the corridor, there were no more doors, and soon he saw what was once his glorious garden, now abandoned with more weeds than flowers. — My blood, my soul, my existence craves battle. Blith! — he bellowed with the trees and walls trembling. The birds took flight, and the animals ran among roots, branches, and leaves.
From the sky descended the serpentarium, leaving only the human, with the other two departing.
— So you are the hero. You came alone, your servants left. Should I comprehend your existence as bellicose, an abyssal force that can obliterate this dimension. — the Demon King filled with joy as he tried to predict Æthelflæd's movements, who found herself paralyzed before the creature of four meters, all muscles under red skin, with two long black horns above a terrifying skull.
It was the Demon King of the nearly extinct lineage of the legendary ones.
— We have to go back there, Leofwynn. — Cwenburg awoke ordering. The unicorn rarely focused on anything, but she perceived the seriousness of the situation.
She could control the serpentarium just by desiring it. The snake's wings beat, with the two mounted aiming for the paralyzed Æthelflæd, who had a strange expression, flushed, drooling, following, with an unblinking gaze, the ultra-defined muscles before her.
— Cwenburg, it's literally the Demon King! What are we going to do there? Turn around! Don't obey her, serpentarium! — and Leofwynn was ignored, watching terrified as they approached the wide atrium. — Look at this place! It's totally cursed! Let's leave, Cwenburg, the human is doomed!
— It's not that bad, the gardens just haven't been tended to for a while. — the Demon King, with his extreme hearing, tried to justify himself. And soon returned his attention to Æthelflæd. — So, human?
At that moment, with all the speed she had, which was little, drastically little, Æthelflæd threw a glass vessel at the Demon King's head.
The two flying on the winged serpent watched the absurd situation in astonishment, remembering Æthelflæd's explanation minutes before:
— I'm still level one, meaning, if I kill the Demon King, I can level up to 999! All at once! Isn't that a good plan? — Æthelflæd's happiness only left Leofwynn even more perplexed, and Cwenburg moved her little hand in the air, as if to say, I don't care. Still, the volcano girl insisted, perhaps she had misjudged that human, and, in fact, she hadn't known many other humans throughout her life, which led to the main question:
— And how will you do that?
— Do what?
— Kill the Demon King! — furious with the human's smile, Leofwynn heard:
— I'm an alchemist, I'm going to poison him!
Neither the volcano girl nor the unicorn could conceive what happened, the Demon King, standing still, was hit by the venomous glass vessel! And his face was covered in the bubbling green liquid.
That smile, that damn smile on the human's face, vanished only when she heard:
— Actually… — the Demon King licked and savored the poison dripping down his guttural face. — My species is immune to poisons. — as the legendary ones were extremely rare, such a condition could not be foreseen by the trio, and they found themselves without salvation!