Chapter 226: The Devil in the Forest! Are there really cadres coming?
"Air Blade!"
A verdant wind blade silently sliced through the forest, like a deadly weasel, precisely severing the head of the last One-Hit Kill Rabbit.
Hot blood splattered on the surrounding withered leaves, and the forest fell into complete silence.
Yunyun gently put down her staff, letting out a soft sigh, and looked at Arthur and Kazuma, who were busily counting their spoils.
As for Aqua…
She was sitting on a dead tree stump, quietly sobbing.
Because she had acted on her own earlier, she was furiously ambushed by a pack of One-Hit Kill Rabbits, leaving her covered in mud, with grass and broken twigs in her hair, looking utterly disheveled.
Unable to bear the sight, Yunyun walked over, took out her handkerchief, and said softly,
"If you don't mind, please use this."
"W-w-w… Thank you, Yunyun, you're such a good person!"
Aqua took the handkerchief and haphazardly wiped her grimy face.
Kazuma packed up all the One-Hit Kill Rabbit corpses nearby, an uncontrollable smile on his face.
"Not only did we figure out the cause of the forest's anomaly, but we also got so many materials. This is a huge haul!"
Arthur's gaze swept over the goddess, who was completely unharmed yet crying as if the sky was falling, then waved his hand at Kazuma, clearly uninterested.
"Don't celebrate too early. One-Hit Kill Rabbits, apart from their numbers, aren't a threat at all."
"The true beasts in the forest have no reason to fear them. Let's go deeper; the source is still in there."
Kazuma's smile froze. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, an astonishing clamor suddenly erupted from behind the bushes, completely interrupting him.
"Don't run! You damned demon! Even if I have to sacrifice my knight's honor today, I will definitely defeat you!"
"What honor?! You persistent, perverted, masochistic Crusader! Just stop it already!"
Accompanied by a thunderous crash, a massive, winged demon, with an astonishing wingspan and a metallic sheen all over its body, broke through tree trunks and burst out of the dense forest!
Behind him, with flushed faces and fervent eyes, Darkness and a troubled Chris were hot on his heels.
This creature, which looked every bit like a major boss lurking in the deepest part of a dungeon, now awkwardly collided with Arthur's group, who were resting.
"Adventurers again!? Huh!?"
The winged demon's expression was irritated, but in the next second, he suddenly slammed to a halt, his eyes fixed on Yunyun, his nose twitching meaningfully.
"…The scent on this little girl, it seems to be…"
"Turn Undead!"
Before the demon could finish his sentence, Aqua, who had been crying moments before, uncharacteristically exploded into action, raising her hand for a holy purification!
"Y-a-a-a-h—!"
A surge of holy light instantly engulfed the winged demon.
That power, capable of purifying all evil, scorched his body, emitting a grating "sizzle" sound, and billows of black smoke poured out!
Seeing the imposing Greater Demon being sent rolling on the ground, screaming repeatedly, by Aqua's single attack, everyone was momentarily at a loss for words.
Instead, it was Aqua herself, having delivered a fatal blow, who panicked first.
With wide, terrified eyes, she leaned close to Kazuma and complained in a hushed voice.
"Hey, hey~ Kazuma! It's weird! My purification… it doesn't seem to be doing much to this demon!"
Kazuma cautiously shielded the monster materials behind him, shrugging at the goddess who had a severely skewed self-perception.
"No, it looks like a remarkably effective attack, doesn't it? Listen, he's screaming 'Y-a-a-a-h—' in agony."
Arthur paced over to the battered winged demon, the tip of durandal pointing diagonally at the ground.
He scrutinized this fellow, who could withstand a direct hit of Aqua's divine purification, from above, his eyes full of inquiry.
"A Greater Demon? A monster of this caliber shouldn't appear near a beginner's village."
At this moment, the winged demon finally recovered from the deadly pain. He ignored the intense pain in his body and hastily raised both hands in surrender.
"Please calm down! Everyone, please calm down! I'm just passing through! I have absolutely no intention of being hostile to the adventurers here!"
"You lie!"
Darkness followed closely, rushing out of the dense forest, her longsword pointing directly at the demon, refuting him righteously.
"So-called demons, aren't they evil monsters who deceive humans, sign unequal contracts, and wantonly toy with adventurers' souls!"
"Hmph~ Don't even think about harming anyone else! You, I'll handle you!"
The winged demon struggled to prop up his scorched body and roared at the perverted female knight who had been relentlessly pestering him.
"That's what cunning devils do! We demons value the spirit of contracts most and never break our word!"
"Ultimately! What is your body made of?! Why did you take my Infernal Flames head-on without even a scratch on your skin?!"
Clang!
A crisp sword clang interrupted their increasingly off-topic argument.
Arthur raised durandal, its icy blade directly pressed against the winged demon's neck, its chilling glint causing the air to momentarily freeze.
"Mr. Demon, I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."
Arthur's voice was calm and composed, yet a fierce wind pressure was rapidly solidifying on his sword.
"The monsters originally inhabiting this forest, they all fled because of your arrival, didn't they?"
The blade's closeness, just inches away, made the already heavily injured winged demon stiffen all over, and he reluctantly nodded.
"P-probably… Weak monsters instinctively stay away from beings stronger than themselves."
Arthur's lips curved into a half-smile, and he retorted.
"Then you are indeed lying. Simply passing through wouldn't be enough to scare away an entire forest of monsters."
The winged demon's glass-bead-like eyes glanced at Yunyun, a hint of struggle flashing within them.
Seeing that he was still unwilling to give up, Arthur didn't even bother to ask further, merely raising his hand to signal.
"Aqua, prepare the second shot."
"I, I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! Please don't do it!"
The winged demon was scared out of his wits, waving his hands repeatedly, terrified that if he spoke a second too late, he would be purified on the spot by that blue-haired crazy woman.
"My name is Host! I'm looking for a giant, pitch-black magical beast! I promise, once I find it, I'll leave immediately!"
"A giant, pitch-black magical beast?"
Everyone was stunned by this. Yunyun, being an excellent student, immediately remembered something, her eyes lighting up.
"Is it that one! The pitch-black monster that often roams near the town, known as the 'newbie killer'!"
Only then did the others realize.
Only Arthur, when Yunyun mentioned "newbie killer," acutely caught the fleeting look of disdain on Host's face.
A Greater Demon, coming for a mere "newbie killer"?
He instantly recalled the strange familiar, Douzhinosuke, which Yunyun had specifically left at the inn before they set off.
The energy hidden within that seemingly harmless little black cat was far more formidable than that of the timid Host before him.
With that thought, Arthur's gaze swept over the various expressions of the others, finally resting on Darkness and Chris, who had joined in midway.
"Our party's quest is to investigate the cause of the forest's anomaly. What about you two?"
Unlike Darkness, who was in a strange frenzy, Chris raised her hand to scratch a small scar on her cheek, stammering a little self-consciously.
"We didn't take a quest. We just heard about the forest anomaly and wanted to take advantage of the chaos to collect some giant hornet honey…"
Arthur nodded knowingly, his gaze returning to Host's fawning face.
"The monster you're looking for isn't the 'newbie killer,' is it?"
Before he finished speaking, he flicked his wrist, and durandal instantly cut through the demon's proud, tough skin, a line of blood spurting out, causing the other party to tremble violently.
"Confess honestly, or else…"
Host bluffed, "Don't, don't be impulsive! Demons can't be killed!"
"Even if you kill me now, it will only bring utter disaster to this town in the future!"
Arthur's eyes darkened slightly, and he turned his head to look at Aqua, who knew the most about gods and demons.
"Is he telling the truth? Demons can't be destroyed?"
Aqua pouted, "They're not that amazing. They just rely on their true bodies being in hell, so even if they're destroyed, they can revive. It's very troublesome."
"Is that so…"
Arthur's tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed. He withdrew durandal and raised his hand, forming an empty grasp.
"Mimicry: Moonlight."
An intricate magic circle suddenly unfolded beneath Host's feet, and pale moonlight transformed into a tangible liquid, pouring out from the magic circle.
In an instant, it enveloped and solidified the opponent, ultimately turning into a giant moonlight crystal that sealed the demon.
Arthur casually put it into his storage bag and explained to the dumbfounded crowd.
"Since killing it casually would be troublesome, let's seal it first and hand it over to the guild to handle."
Kazuma, who always valued his life, watched with trepidation and quietly reminded him.
"Big Brother, is this really okay? That Greater Demon… won't he break the seal and escape someday?"
Arthur calmly shook his head, "Don't worry, he doesn't have that ability. Let's go, time to turn in the quest."
…
When Arthur's group returned to the Adventurers' Guild under the dappled moonlight and informed Princess Luna about Host, the guild receptionist's expression was more solemn than ever before.
After arranging for people to move the giant sealed crystal, Princess Luna's face was filled with worry.
"We just received urgent intelligence from headquarters: one of the Demon Lord's Army Executivess, Beldia the Headless Knight, has shown signs of abnormal activity recently."
"I didn't expect to find a Greater Demon so close to his area of activity…"
Arthur's eyebrows rose, "You suspect this demon is a scout?"
Princess Luna gave a wry smile and shook her head, unable to answer the question.
And the phrase "Demon Lord's Army Executives" was like a giant rock thrown into a calm lake.
The originally bustling guild hall, filled with the smell of alcohol and laughter, instantly fell silent, and an aroma called fear permeated the air.
All the adventurers' gazes converged on Princess Luna and Arthur.
Kazuma, standing nearby, felt the oppressive atmosphere to its extreme, crossing his arms.
In a voice only he could hear, he uttered, word by word, that classic death flag.
"It's over… As per usual, whenever things are discussed to this extent, things… will definitely develop in the worst possible direction."