Ester went home while the three of us slept after dinner.

Feyris: It’s time to pla- I mean train today.

Hikai: I just heard you say play. You said play right?

Feyris: Ha! Ha! Ha! Here we go!

Hikai: Argh.

After pla- I mean training with Feyris she talked to me.

Feyris: I have something to tell you about yesterday.

Hikai: You mean about the Demon’s Magic?

Feyris: Yeah, I couldn’t help but think that I’ve seen that Magic before so I couldn’t really have a drink last night.

Hikai: So that’s why Zack was relaxing in the Living room.

Feyris: I finally remembered. That Magic was from the Demon Strategist.

Hikai: Strategist?

Feyris: Yeah, you see there are six people who are currently the strongest among the Demons other than the Demon King himself.

Hikai: There are six of them?

Feyris: Yeah, I’ll spare you their names except for one. Akari.

Hikai: Akari?

Feyris: That is the name of the leader of the Demon King’s army.

Akari? That’s a Japanese name right? Does that mean she’s like us? Was she summoned like me or is it just a coincidence?

Feyris: From what I’ve heard no one truly knows who she is or where she came from. The only thing that I could find out was that she was the Demon Queen’s best friend.

Hikai: Hmm? She was friends with the Queen?

Feyris: Yeah, before the Queen died she didn’t participate in any of the battles so almost no information is known about her.

Hikai: So the Demon Queen is dead.

Feyris: Yeah, wait nobody told you?

Hikai: What are you talking about?

Feyris: So that’s how it was. Did you know how the war between the Humans and the Demons started?

I shook my head.

Feyris: Then you should know. The first one who attacked was the Humans.

Hikai: What?

Feyris: And on that first attack, the Demon Queen was killed.

Hikai: Are you absolutely sure?

Feyris: Yeah, Ranga and I were involved in that fight after all.

Hikai: And that’s how you know the Demon’s Magic since you fought them first hand.

Feyris: I don’t know what the King was thinking at the time but  they were the ones who attacked first. It was a intense battle, the only reason that the Humans won was because the Queen was killed.

Hikai: How was she killed exactly?

Feyris: As the battle raged on, the Demon Queen finally decided to step in. She slowly but surely walked to the battlefield.

Feyris looked at a distance.

Feyris: I couldn’t help but stare at her. Everyone, even all the Humans were stunned and stared at her. She then started to speak but one of the soldiers panicked and attacked her before she could say a word.

Feyris then looked down and immense sadness appeared on her face.

Feyris: She didn’t even fight back. The soldier stabbed her through the heart. Even a Demon would die by getting stabbed in the heart. She raised both of her hands and stretched them sideward and then she finally spoke.

Feyris copied what she described and then.

Feyris: She shouted “Please stop fighting! There is no benefit to this!” after she shouted, Akari was first one to get to her. I never really knew what she talked to her about but then the Queen’s arms then fell to her side and she stopped moving.

Feyris then sat back down.

Feyris: The first one to move was the Human King. He suddenly shouted to retreat as he saw the scene. The Demon King also called for their retreat. As the two armies tried to retreat one person didn’t allow them to.

I gulped as she said that. I could see seriousness in Feyris’ eyes.

Feyris: Akari stood up and cut the soldier in half. I couldn’t even see her blade at all. She then continued to slaughter every single thing that came near her, Humans and Demons alike.

Hikai: What?

Feyris: It was horrible. Every single thing that came near her was cut down with no exception. Neither Ranga nor I could even see how she killed everyone. The battlefield was a mix of blood and tears.

Hikai: Tears?

Feyris: As she slaughtered every single thing, she was crying. She was crying so loudly and so intensely that no one could say anything. Then when there was no one who was around her she then took one step. A single step towards us. That was when Ranga and I faced her.

Hikai: Wait, both of you fought her?

Feyris: Yeah, at that time Ranga and I were very confident on ourselves. We thought that we were the strongest. Even though we still weren’t S-rank adventurers back then both of us thought that it was just about time before we reached that rank.

Hikai: You did reach the rank though?

Feyris: That was all because of that fight. Everyone including us feared Akari. No one was able to stop her at that time. I remember what I felt when I faced her off. I couldn’t accept it. How can a person this strong exist? There’s no way she could exist! That was what went through our heads as we faced her.

Ranga: Yeah, we sure were stupid back then.

That was also the time that Ranga went to the courtyard. He also sat down and the three of us were facing each other.

Ranga: We fought her. Actually that wasn’t even a fight. We were destroyed by her. Both of us together, we thought we could do anything and then suddenly one person just destroyed it all in one go.

Feyris: That was a serious lesson for us.

Hikai: How did you survive then?

Feyris: Every single Magic that I used against her was slashed. None of them could even hit her. She destroyed every single one.

Ranga: Then while she was slashing it all down was the time I chose to attack. It didn’t even take her a second to slash me but her sword broke. The weird sword that she was using broke.

Hikai: Weird sword?

Ranga: Yeah, it was a pretty long sword but it was curved. It was a long curved sword.

A long curved sword? Like a Katana? Then is she also like us and was summoned to this world?

Ranga: When it broke she suddenly stopped. It looked like she regained her senses. She looked around and saw everything and she wailed. She cried again and shouted. The Human army and the Demon army had retreated already and only the three of us were left on the battlefield.

Feyris: The both of us just watched as she wailed and when she stopped she then turned around and said “Sorry” even now we still didn’t know who she was telling it to. Was it to her friend who died? Was it to the soldiers that she killed?

Ranga: Because of that, both of us worked harder than before and that was when we became S-rank. We never forgot what happened back then.

Feyris: How can we forget? Those two are just like us you know?

Ranga: That’s true but at least those two weren’t as overconfident as we are.

Hikai: Wait, if the Demon Queen was killed why did the Humans retreat?

The two of them were shocked by my question.

Feyris: Now that you mention it, why did the King order the retreat?

Ranga: By killing the Demon Queen, the Humans had the advantage so why did they retreat?

As the three of us mulled over it, Ranga was the first one to talk.

Ranga: Argh! We can’t do anything about that so let’s just forget about it. Hikai, we have training to do!

Feyris: Hah… Oh well.

Feyris went back the house as Ranga trained me and after a while in training.

Ranga: You’re reacting well.

As Ranga trained me, he talked to me.

Ranga: That’s good. I can see your progress. Then how about a test? Stand over there and try to dodge my attack.

Hikai: Yes.

Ranga and I stood face to face and then I could feel an intense pressure. Pressure unlike anything I’ve felt before.

Ranga: I see.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. As Ranga stared at me, my body refused to move. Then he moved and I saw myself killed.

Ranga: There.

The only thing I saw was a fist. The tip of his knuckle was touching my nose.

Ranga: So you could feel it. That’s good.

As Ranga relaxed, I could feel my body released from its constraints. I fell and sat on the ground breathing heavily.

Hikai: What… *pant* was…… *pant that?

Ranga: That was killing intent.

Hikai: Killing intent?

Ranga: Yeah, when I fought against her that was what I felt. Like every part of my body wasn’t mine. Her anger was so intense that it was like I was slashed into a million pieces. Remember that feeling, that will definitely save you one day.

Hikai: So that was killing intent.

Ranga: Right, you should train yourself in this. So for the rest of the lesson, I want you to stand there and do nothing.

Hikai: Nothing?

Ranga: Yeah do nothing,

I wondered why then same sensation assaulted me once again as I faced Ranga. We repeated the process the whole time.

After a massive experience in killing intent, I walked around the city to cool my head off.

Woodsmith: Oi Kid!

Too many stuff happened. The Humans were the ones who started this war. The Demon Queen was killed. The magic of the strongest demon was detected here in the capital.

Woodsmith: Can’t you hear me Kid?

What should I do? Should I tell them what just happened? But they aren’t here today so I can’t really meet them. Should I tell the princess?

Woodsmith: Stop ignoring me!

Hikai: What?

Someone grabbed my shoulder and as I looked back I saw the woodsmith.

Woodsmith: I finally got you.

Hikai: What is it?

Woodsmith: Do you think you can find more of that Magic Wood?

Hikai: Why?

Woodsmith: I could feel that I was improving in using it but I just want at least one more to train with.

Hikai: Wasn’t it expensive?

Woodsmith; Don’t worry, I can pay for at least one this time. Here, look at this. I just put a copy on the guild so you should go there to accept it.

Hikai: I’ll see what I can do.

Woodsmith: Thanks a lot, kid.

The woodsmith left and I went to the guild. I took the same request and brought it to Frank who was there.

Frank: Oh it’s you. What is it this time?

He took the paper.

Frank: This again?

Hikai: Is the reward right for the request?

Frank: Well, it’s pretty low but it is still within the range so it’s fine. So are you still accepting the quest?

Hikai: Yeah, I guess I will.

Frank: Right, well then goodnight.

Frank laid his head down on the counter once again.

Hikai: I’m going now.

This time the only one going was me. Zack was not in the house while Ester was spending time with Lin so I was alone. As I walked towards the tree, Magicae appeared.

Magicae: What’s going on?

I wondered what she was talking about and we reached the same place as before but then.

Hikai: What happened here?

Magicae: I’m not sure but I can feel something bad.

The tree had withered and only a black clump was left. On that black clump was a weird dark energy that made me feel worried.

~Chapter 20 End~