Chapter 11 – An unsealed demon
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Ah, yes. Running through a corridor of some ancient temple while everything was shaking around you. A classic protagonist move.

“That’s why I told you not to touch it!” the goblin running alongside me yelled.

“I didn’t! The fruit did!”

“A fruit supercharged by years of exposure to your bubble world mana! I knew you would one day accidentally destroy the world! I just didn’t think it would happen already! Did you really have to rush with it that much?!”

Our conversation died down as we finally reached the end of the corridor… only to find ourselves back at the big open room filled with the darkness seeping out of the crystal.

“What the heck?!” Willow immediately stopped and turned around, dragging me with her. We ran through the tunnel again to get away from the darkness spreading in the room.

“Aaaaa, what even is that darkness thing?”

“The texts said something about a shard of an ancient demon being sealed here!”

“Wait, what?! We were camping right next to a sealed ancient demon?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I did! You were too busy arguing with that statue!”

Ah, dammit.

We reached the end of the tunnel again, only to find ourselves in the big room… again.

“What’s going on?! Is the demon trapping us?!”

“Wait, no! It’s the tree! The stupid illusion maze curse thing!”

“Oh, dammit! Pick it back up!”

“O-on it!” I ran up to where we left the half-pruned tree and tried to touch it to store it again. “Uwaaagh!” Until the darkness decided to come my way and coil around me.

“Fei!”

“Nonono! I do not like where this is going!” I yell while slashing my sword at the darkness. It was like slashing water. Not effective at all.

“Grab my hand!”

I whipped my head around and realized my goblin friend managed to get near me without being captured as well. I did as she said without hesitation and she pulled me out of my predicament before dragging me far away from the dark sentient quicksand.

For some reason, though, it didn’t follow us. When we looked back, we realized what was happening.

“What… is it doing?”

It was coiling around the tree.

“The tree! It’s eating up the mana fruits! That’s… that’s probably really freaking bad, isn’t it?” I gave the goblin a side glance just to confirm from her very concerned frown that, yes, it was really freaking bad.

“We need to stop it! But swords don’t do anything! Argh, I wish I learned magic faster!”

Dang it! Was the world going to get destroyed by an ominous black cloud supercharged with mana because I was a terrible magic teacher?! Was that what the prophecy or whatever was about?!

“I can still store it all away! The tree and the darkness!”

I was about to sprint off again but Willow caught my arm.

“Fei, no! Don’t put the mana-eating blackness thing into a place with tons of ambient mana!”

Uh, right. Good point.

“What else do we do, though?!”

Her mouth tightened into a line as she gripped her sword.

I will use my ability on it then.”

I stared at my companion wide-eyed. She was going to turn the demonic cloud into a chair, a sword, or a cute girl? Somehow, that simultaneously seemed like an amazing and a horrible idea.

“I have no idea what it will do, but we need to do something!” She breathed in and out, seeming to steel her resolve. “If it catches me, pull me out!”

“O-okay!” I yelped out without thinking about it.

I ran after Willow, careful not to enter the black swamp’s reach.

My goblin companion, on the other hand, dove head first into the dangerous substance, letting it grab her as it did with me. I was about to scream in horror and attempt to pull her out when the darkness as a whole began to jiggle around.

“Okay, it’s doing something!” she exclaimed.

I stood there with my fists and teeth clenched, watching, as the black fog converged and transformed. Ripples ran through it, making it momentarily shine with different colors.

It kept converging, eventually forming into the shape of a person. I could only stare wide-eyed as Willow’s ability seemed to have done the impossible.

The goblin opened her eyes, stood up, and took a few steps back from the prone form of a dark-skinned girl with horns lying on the ground. She even had a nice black dress already on her.

“Uhm…”

I had a thousand questions. It really had turned the cloud into a cute girl! Who was she? Was that dress also inside the fog or did Willow’s ability create it for her out of decency? Why couldn’t Willow turn me into a cute girl first?! I’d asked for it first! Not fair!

Before I could pick what to say though, the girl opened her eyes and sat up whilst glancing around. Her eyes landed on the two of us.

The silent staring contest lasted about an eternity before the demon girl finally opened her mouth to say something. But then, her eyes widened and she looked around again, panicked. “Huh?! What?! Where?! Where are you?!”

The confusion spread to the two of us as well, as we shared a bemused look.

“Uh, hey. You alright?”

She got up and backpedaled from us, looking alarmed.

The staring contest resumed.

Still keeping my eyes on the newcomer, I leaned near Willow and whispered, “Hey, uh… is this the ancient demon you were talking about?”

Before she could answer, the demon in front of us clenched her fists and yelled, “Who are you?! Where is everyone?! What is this place?!”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down! A lot of questions there!” I took the initiative. “Hello! My name is Feinerena! You can call me Fei!” I gestured at myself with one hand while putting the other on my hip.

The demon’s only reply was furrowing her brows.

“And this over here is my good friend! Willow!” I flung my arms in her direction as if revealing something grand. She murmured something about her still deciding on a name.

The girl in front of us glanced at Willow before pointing her stare back at me.

“We… Well, we found this place by accident and settled in. Right next to that thing.” I pointed to the crystal, prompting her to turn around and look at it. “And, then we had this funny accident with a mana fruit, and the crystal cracked! And this black fog… uh, which was probably you, seeped out.”

I was still talking, but she didn’t seem to be listening anymore. She simply stared at the crystal wide-eyed.

“Aetheruim crystal… but then that means… No way! They really split us up and sealed us away!”

A quick glance at Willow confirmed that she also had no freaking idea what the little demon was talking about.

“So…” I began, prompting her to turn back to us. The sight of her face drenched in tears stopped whatever I had been meaning to say though.

“E-everyone else is gone. I’m a-alone!”

“Uhh?!”

Out of all the things I had been expecting to do today, comforting a crying ancient demon definitely wasn’t on the list.

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