"If you don't go to sleep, the Demon Race will come and carry you off and eat you."
"Mama, what is the Demon Race?"
"Monsters far more terrible than magic beasts. Your papa gave his life to protect us from them."
"Papa? Where did Papa go back then?"
"He went somewhere very far away… It's better that you've forgotten. Go to sleep now, child. If you don't sleep properly, you'll never grow up."
The mother's voice was gentle, her gaze soft. She stroked her daughter's head, and something glimmered faintly along the rims of her eyes.
When she was small, that particular trick had worked wonders on frightening children into bed. But the Hero had defeated the Demon King, and the Empire had sent troops to sweep up the last stragglers of the Demon Race and the monsters. Children these days never laid eyes on those terrible creatures at all.
"Mm."
The girl nodded and nestled her head against her mother's chest.
What came for the two of them was no sweet dream. It was the roof, torn away in a single instant.
"Huh? Mama, look, stars!"
The girl blinked her eyes half open and pointed up at the sky, a little thrilled.
The woman, though, clutched the child to her chest with terror written across her face. On one arm, a gash opened by a splinter of wood was slowly seeping blood.
"Shh."
Ignoring the wound, she clamped a hand over the child's mouth. She hoisted the girl up one-armed, straining under the weight, and limped to the doorway.
Both door panels had come loose the moment the house lost its roof to the open sky.
Through the gaping entryway, the woman saw a band of devil.
The Demon Race!
She regretted, now, ever using the Demon Race to frighten her daughter into sleeping.
Through what had been a quiet night, wails began to rise from every corner of the village, one after another. Even the moon hanging high above was stained with a faint crimson mottling.
"So this is Mana Scatter Magic? Impressive."
Briz "Bronze", the Demon General, ran the comparison in his head: even his custom-forged bronze armor wouldn't hold up under a barrage like that.
"Go on, it's suppertime. Remember to leave a few alive."
Zaha "the Keeper", a general in his own right, swept one broad hand through the air. Spell formations wove themselves up out of the ground one after another, and as the Mana gathered, more than a dozen wolf-shaped magic beasts took form out of nothing.
The black, famished wolves glared with scarlet eyes, saliva sliding down their pointed teeth. In the space of a blink they were gone, hurtling forward.
"Looks like I won't need to lift a finger. Behavior like this hardly suits my aesthetics — but since it's Schlacht's decision, naturally I'll abide by it."
Solitär flicked a hand. Mana Scatter Magic lashed out, and the towering great tree at the village entrance came down with a crash.
She perched herself lightly on the fallen trunk and watched the village slide toward ruin, the way someone might settle in to watch a movie.
"Can't let Zaha steal the whole show."
Briz hefted the heavy bronze hammer in his hand and joined the fight himself.
"Awoooo!"
A magic wolf snarled and slipped into a house that magic had blown open. A man's furious roar followed, then a woman's scream, then a child sobbing — one after another, until at last nothing remained but the sound of chewing.
Run. Run now! The Demon Race are all at the village entrance — get to the back of the village!
"Mama? What's happening? Why are there dogs barking?"
"Don't talk, and don't be frightened. Mama's taking you somewhere nice. Close your eyes for me, all right?"
The little girl shut her eyes obediently. Nothing seemed strange to her; she only thought her mama's hands were shaking rather badly tonight.
"Out of the way! Move!"
The woman watched a man fleeing in a panic shove down an old man who was hobbling along ahead of him.
She gritted her teeth, tightened her hold on her daughter, and went around them both.
In the very instant she passed the old man, a wolf's howl and a thin, aged cry went up together — and behind her there was only the sound of chewing.
Any other day she would have stopped to help the fallen man up. Tonight she had to save her daughter. She had already lost her husband. She could not lose her daughter too.
"Gaaaahhh!"
Under the woman's horrified gaze, a magic wolf burst from the side and sank its teeth into the man who had shoved past.
However hard he pounded at the beast, the monster simply gave one savage wrench and took an arm with it.
All the woman could do was pray she wouldn't catch those monsters' eyes.
"Mama? What's going on? Why is everybody shouting?"
"It's nothing, sweetheart, nothing at all. Everyone's holding a festival."
Two lines of tears slid down her face. She held the rest back, telling herself over and over to be strong.
"Agh!"
Savage pain shot through her ankle, and as she went down the woman locked her arms around the child in a death grip.
So close. She had been so close.
The fence at the village's back gate had been just a few steps away.
The teeth in her leg hurt nothing at all beside the anguish tearing through her.
Then, into the vision of a woman about to give up entirely, a pair of feet stepped.
"Mama, what's wrong?"
The girl tried to open her eyes, but the woman pressed her face down hard. Then both arms stretched forward, grasping at the last straw within reach, and she held her child out.
"Please… save her…"
When she raised her head and saw the newcomer's face for what it truly was, the hope-filled plea broke off in her throat, and her mist-filled eyes went blank.
Despair took her — a despair deeper than anything she had ever known.
The Demon Race. The Demon Race again!
They had already laid an ambush behind the village! There was no getting out — this was a death trap no one could escape!
And she had just now been begging a member of the Demon Race to save her daughter?!
She was handing the Demon Race a meal, plain and simple!
"No! My daughter! What are you going to do to her?! You monsters! You bastards! Give her back! Give her back to me!"
As the child was wrenched out of her arms, the woman felt her mind coming apart. Even the pain in her leg dropped clean out of her awareness.
She dragged herself across the ground in hysterics, caught the Demon Race member by the ankle, and lifted her head again.
The world blurred in front of her.
A white flash tore past, trailing a deafening roar.
The magic wolves collapsed with whimpers and dissolved into scattered motes of light.
"Where do all these dogs keep coming from?"
There was a thin edge of scorn in Aura's voice. She flicked back the hair spilling over her shoulders, and the two figures at her side shot forward without needing a word.
"I… I'm alive?"
The woman stared in disbelief at the purple-haired Demon Race woman.
That face gave nothing away, and the voice that came from it turned more scornful still.
"One moment you want me to save your child, the next you want me to hand her back. Human. Are you toying with me?"
Aura raised the Human girl up in one hand and studied the little face smeared all over with blood.
"Big sister, your horns are so big. They're so pretty."
Two small hands latched onto the sharp horns jutting from Aura's head. With all the fearlessness of a calf that has never met a tiger, the girl even gave them an idle wiggle back and forth.
"I'll kill you."
The sudden snap in Aura's voice startled the girl. Her small hands let go, tears the size of beans came rolling down, and she burst out bawling.
Aura wasted no more words on her. She dumped the child straight into the woman's arms and walked off toward the village without looking back.
"If something's precious to you, don't go shoving it at strangers. What a rude little brat. Just like the brats back in Gaderia."
Aura left that grumble behind her and stepped into the battle, leaving a woman whose mind had shut down completely, and a girl who would not stop crying.
____
📢 WANT MORE CHAPTERS? HELP THE STORY GROW!
💬 Reviews: Leave your review! Every 5 REVIEWS unlocks 1 bonus chapter.
💎 Power Stones: Reach 100 POWER STONES and another bonus chapter drops!
🚀 P@treon: Want to read ahead? Support on P@treon (Walnut-chan) to access over 60 stories and 40 chapters ahead!
🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: The Retired Void Hunter — posted on The_Mikudayo