Demon's Virtue
chapter-684

"So... he lives right under that village?" Krog asked, surprised, "I would have thought he'd be in some big castle at the peak of a mountain or something."

"That would be a bit too obvious," Eiro pointed out, "The Devil is cocky, not stupid. And whether or not this is a permanent place, or if he moves from place to place regularly is still unclear. What we know right now is that he's stationary under that village, and he feeds on the people living there."

Ariella closed her eyes in contemplation. They were close to fighting against the man she hated the most in the world... She had been preparing for this for so long that it felt unreal to finally get to this point, "Then should we strike soon? To make sure he can't escape to another place?"

"We could, but it might actually be safer to wait specifically for him to leave," Eiro explained, "No matter where he goes, we can track him. And his current base would be rigged with a lot of spells that would give him the upper hand."

"So it's just a waiting game then?"

Eiro looked at James, quickly answering his question, "No, it's not. We just need to give him a reason to leave sooner than he would naturally."

James rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Could you stop being so cryptic and just tell us your plan?"

"Not letting me have any fun, huh?" the Demon sighed, "Fine. Alright, we'll do this..."

--- A pair of crows landed on a fence. A farmer, on his way home after finally finishing up his work deep into the night, came to a stop in front of the critters. He just stared at them, into their beady eyes. As he did, another crow landed to his side, and a fourth behind him. Starting to get anxious about the birds' weird behaviour, he started walking past them in a hurry. Turning around a corner into the empty road, the farmer felt his heart nearly skip a beat. In the middle of the road stood another crow, staring right at him.

It was just a couple of birds, there was no reason for him to feel like this... right? But there was something about them that felt unnatural. Like they weren't supposed to be like this. Soon, the four other crows landed around the man, surrounding him. The farmer felt his chest heat up, but not out of fear. A burning pain appeared on his chest, as though a red-hot piece of metal was being pressed onto him. He felt overcome with a wave of exhaustion, as the situation he found himself in started feeling too bothersome to deal with. He didn't even care if something was amiss, he just wanted to sleep.

As the farmer tried to walk past the crows, one of them flapped its wings and flew straight at him. It clung to the man's shirt, using its beak to tear into the fabric, pulling it apart. The man tried to push the bird away, but the others soon joined, tearing the shirt off his body. He fell to the ground and laid on his back under the immense weight of these birds. They shouldn't weigh this much, but it felt like he was trying to lift one of his bulls. As he looked down at his chest, he could see a deep, red scar that he didn't recognize. It wasn't normal either. Instead, it reminded him of the brands he was all too familiar with.

The crows began to peck at the scar, drawing blood. It was painful, incredibly so, and the burning heat returned. It was coming from that scar; the brand. But for some reason, as the crows continued, the pain lessened. The heat was fading, as though a cool air came over it. Before long, the crows lifted off his body and flew away, as if they were done with what they came here for. Startled and his body overcome with an intense terror, the man held his hand to his chest.

The brand was gone, and there weren't even any wounds from the birds' pecking. But he had splatters of blood covering his skin. There were just no wounds to explain it.

"Anna..?" the farmer muttered quietly, as memories rushed to his head, "No, no, that- that can't be!" he pressed his hands onto the sides of his head, the crows becoming just a distant thought as he let out a scream of a pain he had never felt before. The pain of watching his lover be taken from him without being able to do anything about it. And worst of all, just forgetting about it all a few moments later. He felt overcome with an immense rage, his fingernails tearing into the skin on his neck as he was unable to physically control himself. And that was when one of the crows returned. It landed on the ground in front of the man, letting out a single caw. The pain from his neck disappeared. The blood on his hands was still there, but the wounds had been closed.

The man and the crow locked eyes, as the bird turned around with a few quick jumps. As though it were waiting, it just stood there, until the man stood up. He didn't know why he knew what to do, but he did. As soon as the man stood back on his own two legs, the crow lifted off, flying to the end of the road. There, it sat on a roof, waiting for the man to catch up. He ran after the bird, and before he reached it again, it continued flying. The crow led the man into the forest. Usually, he would have never come in here, in fear of the monsters that were lingering amongst the trees, but he felt like he had to. As though he were compelled. And then, he made his way to a clearing. It was small, but the crow had stopped there.

"Wait... Marius?" a voice said from behind the farmer. He snapped around and looked at the figure stood there, "Lorenz? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing..." the other man, Lorenz, replied. Marius soon spotted the man's arm, covered in splotches of blood while his clothes in that area were ripped away. Another crow had come along with him into the clearing as well. And the two weren't the last either. Three more times, someone came into the clearing, each covered in some blood and having parts of their clothes ripped away. And each time, a crow accompanied them.

They stood in the clearing, basking in the light of the full moon. Marius slowly spoke up, "Did you... did you all remember as well?"

The tone of everyone in the group was solemn. They were filled with the same kind of rage that Marius was, "That monster... it... it took them..." Lorenz muttered, tears starting to flow down his cheeks.

"I'm going to kill that thing..." Marius ground his teeth together, but one of the other men started to stutter, "Would... would we really have a chance? That thing, it... we weren't even able to move..."

"I don't care... Without Anna, what do I even have to live for...?"

"Yourself," the reply came quickly, "Would your lover hope for your demise, or your happiness?"

The group of five turned toward the source of the voice. It came from the darkness, hidden within the shadows of the night forest. Slowly, a figure stepped forward. At first, they thought the creature that took their loved ones had come back, but it felt... different. It was clad in black, but instead of a cloak, it wore a well-tailored suit, the kind that not even the rare merchant that came here could afford. Its head was a wisp of black smoke, blending into the dark forest behind it.

"What... are you?" Marius asked, and the figure replied with a slight bow, "The name my master bestowed upon me is Mislan. He sent me on the long journey here to assist you all."

"Your master?" "The one that created me. And the one that created these fellows," Mislan pointed out, and the black crows replied with a few caws, "You and your village... you are under the control of a deep, disgusting evil. One that my master wishes to hurt. To purge from the presence of this... world."

"You'll help us fight him?" Lorenz asked, but Mislan quickly denied that idea, "No. Neither you, nor I, will be fighting. This enemy is not one that you can hope to even lay eyes on. I am here to assist you in your escape. My master has already graciously removed the Marks you had been branded with so that you may take the lead."

"You expect us to just run away? When the thing that took our wives, our children... our brothers and sisters... when that thing is still out there?!" Marius yelled out, but Mislan stayed calm.

"I think I may need to make a few things clear. That 'thing' you all saw is not the one my master wishes to purge. It is merely that being's tool... designed to bring it food."

The expressions of the five people turned sour. Their faces where pure white, as though they as well were already dead.

"...so... they're just gone? For good?"

"...I'm afraid so. But I swear to you, that my Master will slay that monstrosity. In order to do that, though, we need you to leave. To get out of the way. My Master wishes to not see any more innocent lives be lost," Mislan explained. The group was quiet for a while. And then, Marius spoke up again.

"What do we need to do?"