We stood at the outskirts of the barony. Well, Erebus and I were standing firm, the other two have a slight wobble in their steps now. I had warned them that the fastest way to travel, either by riding Erebus or by me carrying them, was going to do a number on them. Cruz was alright with it. At the time. With no other landmark except it being near a mountain range, which I hadn't seen before, it took some time to find where the small territory was.
"Th-thank you, we'll be fine from here," The girl commented, nearly following over.
"It was nothing," I continued, "But I thought about the payment last night." I toss her my only copy of the Tenets.
After barely catching it, she opened it and read the title, "Tenets of True Dragons?" She read the first page quickly, "Oh, this is a book about Veldora and the monsters of the Jura Forest."
"Close," I corrected, "The first section is about Veldora and the Jura Forest, but it's also a religious doctrine."
"Is that so?" She closed the book and held onto it, "Then I take it the payment is spreading the words inside it."
"If you're worried the Holy Church branding you a heretic, I won't hold it against you if you burn it after I leave. As I said, delivering you here was nothing," I said before looking at the mountains.
"I won't burn it," She said a moment after, "Not at least before I've fully read it. But I should warn you, if you're going further south into the Dynasty, don't try to spread it."
"I'll keep that in mind. And do what you want with the book," I tapped the side of my head the mask was on, "It's all up here. Now, let's go Erebus."
"Yes, my lord," Erebus stood ready to follow after me.
"Wait, I haven't gotten your name," The girl said, causing me to look at her one last time.
I sighed, "I'm F/N Dora Tempest, son of the [Storm Dragon]." Her eyes grew wide at the claim and her butler stepped back. "I suppose I'll tell you to find me in the Jura Forest, in the village described in that book, should you need to bother me. Well, we'll be going now."
With a great leap, Erebus and I once again made our way south. At first, we followed along the mountain range, which descended into the territory of the Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion. We did not stop by any villages, towns, or cities to rest or for fun. In fact, at night was when Erebus traveled fastest. However, to make sure we remained heading in the right direction, we sometimes traveled on foot to speak with other people that were traveling.
One couple, both elves, were nice to talk with and asked about my business in Ulgrasia. I made up a story that an acquaintance of mine was getting married, and that I was on my way to invite their parents in Ulgrasia to the wedding. The two bought the story and after giving me directions and wishing me safe travels, they asked me to congratulate my friend on their behalf.
Only a few times did Erebus and I stop when we saw monsters. The first time was out of boredom. After dropping those two off, nothing of real note happened. I didn't really mind the peace, but at the same time, I expected enemies to appear along the way. With the cliché meeting the baron princess, I half expected another cliché to appear. None appeared. Instead, the second time we found monsters, they were a small village on the border of the Dynasty and Ulgrasia. In both cases, they quickly stopped being, what is known as, alive and in our way.
The destruction of the monster village had nothing to do with the fact that it appeared uncomfortably close to that elf's hometown. It's not that I felt bad for using [Lover's Embrace] on her or anything.
Erebus and I walked through the dense forest, looking for the entrance into the Dwelling. With his wolves scattered about it helped save us some time. Hidden away, a large stone gate sat at the top of a short stone staircase. A large, overgrown tree mostly consumed the stone wall, yet did not cover the gate. I stopped for a moment, as the sunlight beamed down through the forest and lit the door. It was a calm environment at the time.
With a slight push, I carefully opened the gate, not wanting to recreate the damage I had done to the entrance of the sealed cave. As we walked in, we found it to be a long hallway that at first appeared empty. Then I heard the sounds of laughter. They were small voices, high-pitched creatures that I couldn't see.
"It's rude to laugh and leave someone out of the joke," I said before creating a flame in my hand. "Perhaps you could share the joke with us, then tell me if this is the Dwelling."
"Okay," One of the small voices giggled, "I'll tell you the joke, after you've passed this trial."
Suddenly behind us, a one-eyed, massive golem appeared, "Fire does not beat rock." I commented as it threw a large fist at us. We jumped back, avoiding the attack as the ground was destroyed. Putting away the fire, I continued, "But I have to beat this bastard."
"That's right, that's right!" The small voice proclaimed, "Do you have the strength? The power?"
As it asked I started to walk toward the golem, "Lord F/N," Erebus called.
"It's alright, it's just a stupid toy," I said, stabbing the Disaster's Blade into the ground.
"What are you calling a toy?!" The voice sounded offended, "That's my elemental colossal!" The golem appeared to be charging an attack in its eye, "Show him!"
I charged forward and punched the golem in the eye, causing the eye to break and explode between us. When the dust settled, I stood with only a mildly bruised fist beside the golem now in pieces.
"So, what's the joke?" I asked, looking in the direction of where the voice had been coming from. "It better be funnier than that golem."
"My golem," The small female voice flew by me as a bright yellow light and examined the remains, "My golem! Its head is completely destroyed!" How could-"
I grabbed the fairy female and squeezed, "Hey, I asked you a question."
"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Please let go!" The fairy in black begged. "It was a stupid joke, it definitely wasn't you or the golem!"
"Alright," I released her and sighed, "But this is the Dwelling of Spirits, right? I didn't just find some random fairy's home?"
She patted her small black dress clean and floated proudly, "That's correct! And I am-" She bit her tongue and winced for a moment before continuing as if it didn't happen. "And I am the [Demon Lord] Ramiris, one of the Ten Great Demon Lords, feel free to kneel-"
I grabbed her again and started to holder her tighter, "Sorry, you remind me of someone annoying. What was that about being a Demon Lord?"
"It's true!" She cried while trying to escape my grip, "You don't have to kneel, just let me go already!"
"Alright," I released her again, causing her to wait a moment and stare at me.
"You're not going to do that again, are you?" Ramiris asked. "Because that grip of yours is frightening, if I didn't know the only Dragonoid, I'd say you were one."
"I am a Dragonoid and I'm Veldora's son... adopted," I added quietly.
"Ah, I see," She nodded and turned around. There was silence between us for a moment, then she realized what I just said and quickly turned around. "There's no way! That's impossible! If there was a second Dragonoid I would know! It's not good for your health to lie!"
"Right back at you, calling yourself a Demon Lord when you look and act nothing like one," I then verbally attacked her, "You're the size of a rat with wings and as flat as a wall. If you're going to call yourself a Demon Lord, you should at least give off the feel of one, flat fairy."
"Flat fairy?! Why you!" She became extremely angry as the other spirits that appeared to be following her started laughing.
I looked over to Erebus, who appeared to have something to say, I nodded, "My lord," Erebus spoke, "Perhaps we should put the matter aside, we didn't plan to anger anyone or fight."
I sighed, "Well, you are right. Fine, I apologize for calling you flat... Flat fairy."
"You're not sorry at all!" Ramiris got in my face.
"Tell me how you're a Demon Lord and answer my original question, then I'll apologize for real," I commented.
The fairy huffed, "It's obvious to anyone who knows anything about Demon Lords that they are more than just strength and appearance. One like me is clearly in a different category than those powerhouses, in fact, I'm the definition of both knowledge and beauty among the Demon Lords!" She said with a grin that annoyed me.
"So those are the words you want on your grave," I said, creating a flame in hand. "Or do you want to remove that grin of yours? Actually, I'm feeling annoyed by you... maybe I should kill you."
"Hold on! There's no need for that! I'll stop!" She panicked as if caught doing something. Whatever she did, the annoyance subsided.
"Hm, anyway, if what you said is true, then I guess I'll have to change my perception of Demon Lords," I grabbed her once more and started crashing her.
"Wait! I said-" She tried to speak.
"No, you just confessed to messing with me, after attacking with a golem, before introducing yourself as a so-called Demon Lord while basically calling me a lier," I pointed out. "Now, answer my question, is this the Dwelling I'm looking for?"
"Yes! And you're about to kill the [Spirit Queen]! No spirit will go near you after that!" Despite not wanting to believe the Demon Lord part, that actually sounded like the truth to my ears, so I let her go.
"Had you said that you were the Queen of Spirits in the beginning, I might have shown I bit more respect." I stated, "I'm interested in [Spirit Magic], since you're the [Spirit Queen], I assume you can help me with that."
"If you truly are interested in [Spirit Magic] then you should know that you have to be liked by spirits first!" She pointed at me, "And you're not exactly friendly!"
"Says the person who bluffed about being a Demon Lord after losing their toy and is now saying they're a queen," I shot back.
"It wasn't a toy and I am! I, the [Spirit Queen], fell into poverty and became a Demon Lord! There, you understand now?!" She sounded annoyed and done with me, but my ears told me she really was telling the truth. I still tuned out the Demon Lord part, so it's still a lie to me.
I took out a small pouch of money and threw it at her, causing her to fall to the ground with it, "Then you don't mind getting paid for your help and the damages, right?"
She looked at me, the pouch, back to me, opened the pouch, and smiled at me, "As the foremost expert on [Spirit Magic], I'll gladly help you get along with the spirits!"
"While I did read a bit about [Spirit Magic] and the Demon Lords, what exactly is the job of a [Spirit Queen]?" I asked before sitting down across from her as she sat on the pouch.
"The Fairy Queen acts as a guide for the holy, or rather, a [Hero] and grants them the [Protection of the Spirits]. I'll tell you right now, just so you know, but I won't give you that blessing," She crossed her arms and looked at the pouch. "No matter how much you pay me."
"In that case, [Lover's Embrace]," I used the skill on her.
"Did you just try to use a skill on me?!" She accused me.
"No," I lied.
"You did! You just tried using a skill on me! That annoying sensation, I felt it-" I quickly grabbed her again.
"So you admit it was mind control skill you were using?" My words caused her to freeze amid her struggling.
"What?" She asked in a sly manner, "No, of course not..."
"Look, we're both getting tired of this, right? Just get to the part where I have to summon a spirit," I said, earning a grumble out of the fairy as I released her.
"Right this way," She took the lead, floating in the air.
"The Queen of Spirits part is a bit hard to see, but the Demon Lord part is really hard," I commented to Erebus as we followed behind.
"True, she doesn't leave a strong presence, with her aura being weaker than Lord Rimuru. If she is a Demon Lord, however, I think she's correct in that she's a different category. We should be careful with others that make the claim, and not use her as an example," Erebus replied.
"Queen Ramiris may not look like it now," A fairy following behind us commented, "But her original form was much more majestic! She goes through a cycle of life and reincarnation, that's why she doesn't appear strong right now."
"Thank you," I patted the fairy on the head gently, "If she had just told me that at the start, I might have believed the Demon Lord part. Definitely the part about being Queen of Failed Golems, or Poverty, or whatever."
"Isn't your memory too good to be forgetting her title?" Erebus asked, confused.
"Yeah, I'm doing it intentionally, since I know she's eavesdropping. Right, broke fairy?" As I said that, Ramiris flinched ahead of us and zoomed into the room ahead of us.
In the deepest part of the labyrinth, which was just a long hallway, was a vast room with a small rocky mountain. A path made entirely of light reached the summit of it. Erebus and I walked it while Ramiris waited for us at the top. She appeared rather serious and slightly nervous as I walked over. I took off the mask and left it with Erebus before I stepped forward.
"Okay, now what? Is there anything special I need to do?" I asked.
"Not at all, get on one knee-" She dodged, as if expecting me to grab her again, but I hadn't tried to. "Kneel... and pray. If you do it here, spirits will appear. It's that simple. But I can't promise that they'll be strong. It definitely won't be him."
"If you say so," I got on one knee and began to pray. Even if they're weak spirits that appear, at least I discovered someone interesting. Maybe I should be a little nicer to Ramiris, stop by from time to time. I might even help her replace that golem. Also, how was I meant to pray for?
"Heya Ramiris, long time no see!" I opened my eyes and stared at a small, pointed eared, blond guy with fairy wings.
"You idiot!" Ramiris started yelling at him, "Why are you here?! Does he look like a human to you?!" She pointed at me, who does look like a human. "Even I can tell from his aura he's not! And it's certainly not the aura of a Hero! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!!"
"Huh?" He ignored her and looked at me, "I don't see an issue. It's not like I'm here to tell him he's a Hero, so it's fine."
"It's not fine at all! You're here! That's the problem!" Ramiris continued to protest. "I already told him I wasn't going to give him the blessing, so you better not even think about it!"
"You both give the same blessing?" I asked, causing Ramiris to get nervous.
"No no, you misheard me-" She tried to deny it but the little guy spoke.
"That's right," He said, earning a death glare from Ramiris. "We used to give it together, but she hasn't in a long time."
"Okay," I commented, "I didn't want it in the first place. But I guess it was nice to meet you..." I gestured.
"I'm a [Spirit of Light]," He answered.
"Well, [Spirit of Light], I was hoping for a spirit that could fight for or with me-" I stopped when I felt an itch of the mist and began to turn around.
My ears caught the sound of footsteps first. Without looking, I could tell they belonged to someone around my height. They hardly breathed or made a sound other than their footsteps. Then the aura. It was dark, suffocating, and unlike any I had felt before, and it was the first thing the spirits noticed. I turned to face it as it landed at the summit. Her pink hair, though it hung back untied, I knew she was the same girl I saw in the divination.
A tattered brown cloak covered her body. A burn marked her right cheek. Her eyes appeared empty. No emotion within her face or reaction to those she was facing. As if she wasn't looking at us, but through me, once our eyes met. In turn, I felt nothing but the same when faced with a creature of that corrupted mist. She was a threat to all of us there.
"Milim?" Ramiris worryingly called and slowly floated closer to her, only to be swatted away by the girl, who kept her eyes on me.
Encounter. Abomination Versus Dragonoid.
There stood my future killer.