The easiest way for me to fly to the capital was to aim for the star that was Earth, and I flew as high as I possibly could.

Up here, high in the sky, the air was cold, freezing cold.

Frost was rapidly forming on my feathers and on my horns.

The feeling of exhilaration and of freedom was overwhelming, I felt my previous bad mood being blown away.

Folding my wings tightly against my body, I allowed myself to plummet straight towards the ground, the feeling caused adrenaline and dopamine to flood my brain.

When I reached a height that was barely five meters above the ground, I snapped my wings open. The sudden air resistance caused the muscles in my wings and back to pull tight, stretching them.

Casting a Healing Rune, I glided towards the north.

The ground rushed rapidly below me, my speed was around twice the speed of sound, yet there seemed to be Magic built either into my wings or my new form that almost canceled out my air resistance.

Soon human towns and buildings started to appear around and below me, dotting the ground. I could see the cross-work patterns of farms covering the free space.

The crop looked like it may be wheat or maize, but I was not an expert on agriculture.

Seeing the glow of lights of the capital in the distance, I activated the Stealth Runes that were inscribed in my necklace.

To make sure that no one could catch me, I decided to add in some more backup. Magic that would make even Master proud. While still flying, I also applied some level seven Stealth Magic. All of the Archmagi had left with, and died with, the king. So I wasn't worried about my Mana usage, this far from the capital, alerting anyone.

As I cleared the walls, I saw that there were crowds of people rushing around chaotically, the massive castle, which was the seat of power in the capital, was in the most turmoil.

It would be so easy to end all of them now, end all of these human insects. If I were to unleash any of my large-scale area of effect spells, I could demolish the entire capital before anyone could even manage to figure out where the overwhelming buildup of Mana was coming from.

Unfortunately, however, Arre would interfere.

As I noted before, I still wasn't strong enough to fight him.

I hovered in the air, high over the capital.

While looking at the people scurrying around, I noticed the killing intent that was almost overwhelming my sanity, roaring through my mind like a crowd of people chanting: "Kill them! Kill them all!!" over and over again in my ears.

I had already sworn that one day I would demolish this eyesore, and the capital was also built around a massive cathedral, the primary church of Arre, where the Pope himself lived.

They were all so naively walking around, believing themselves safe in the capital.

I sighed.

It was time to try to find the possible way to stand a chance against Arre, which I believed was a weapon, but logically it could be anything.

But as I was thinking about this, I sensed a strange presence on the roof of the castle.

I decided to investigate it, and swooped lower.

Sitting there, on the cold slate roof, was a girl.

She had long red hair, and was inhumanly good looking. With deep emerald green eyes, and her pretty face was graced with the freckles which were common among redheads.

Her looks were indicative of someone summoned, someone created by that bastard god.

She seemed like she was in her late teens, twenty at the very oldest.

Sitting perfectly still, her knees were drawn up to her chin, her slender arms wrapped tightly around her legs, there was a look of worry and sadness in her eyes.

Her aura was nostalgically familiar, the aura of someone who is lost and doubting their existence. The aura of someone who is incredibly sad, depressed to the point of not knowing if they wish to go on living, but deep down seething with the burning hot rage of a thousand suns.

I now knew how Master felt when she saw me, there was no way I couldn't react to someone who was feeling like that, someone who was suffering through something I, myself, had suffered.

Of course, I knew that I shouldn't approach her, and in doing so, I would probably get drawn into something which probably wouldn't end well. But I had also been told that I would find something useful in the capital, and she was strange.

While I was originally summoned as a Hero, I had destroyed most of the stupidity that came with being a 'Hero', the childish innocence. Anyway, for some reason, there were some deeply ingrained instincts that I couldn't fight.

Circling the building, I laid out a complex array, which boosted my Stealth Magic and applied it to anyone inside the array. Even if the Pope were to walk by the castle walls, he wouldn't notice me even if I mooned him... Which I probably would.

The girl noticed when I started casting the Runic Array, mainly because I hadn't bothered to make a double-sided barrier, and since she was inside the barrier of the array, she could detect the Mana disturbance.

Her senses were also quite good, which also added evidence to the theory that she was a Hero, and it also made it obvious why she was this upset.

She may have noticed my casting, my gathering of incredible amounts of Mana, easily enough to destroy the entire castle if I used it in an assault spell. Her only reaction however, was to slightly raise her head for a second, before lowering it, not caring if the castle and herself were to be wiped out.

It seems that she was in a state where she wouldn't care if someone cast a powerful unknown Magic at or around her.

I remember being like that, that feeling that took even Master just over a year to rid me of.

"So, who is here?" The girl finally seemed to stir enough to ask, though both her eyes and tone was completely devoid of life.

"Me? Well, think of me as a guardian angel who offers advice to lost souls...or something like that," I was still invisible, and had landed, so I was sitting behind her.

"I don't need an angel's advice, I already have one, and I don't want to talk to anyone who is related to that...'god'."

I liked her words, the venom and hatred in them, she was definitely like I used to be.

She may be a valuable asset, another fallen Hero, as long as I could save her, like Master had managed to save me just before I broke completely.

So, I decided to take a chance.

Well, I say chance, but unlike me she seemed more apathetic, while I was the sort who started to go mad, willing and wanting to kill or destroy anything that reminded me of that bastard god.

Again it struck me how much of a chance Master actually took at that time.

Anyway, even if this girl attacked me, I could easily overpower her.

"Well then, do you feel like seeing what I actually am? Just don't attack me on instinct..."

She looked up as I said that, turning slightly towards where my voice was coming from.

I managed to move her from her stupor a little, I hope that it was a good sign.

She slowly turned around.

When she had fully faced me, I deactivated the Stealth Runes on my necklace and body. Of course I didn't deactivate the stealth array around the roof of the castle.

"Demon King?" She asked with a quiet voice, her tone sounded like a strange mixture between fear and melancholic longing.

She fell forwards onto her knees, in a stance that was very similar to how the Japanese sat.

It seems that if I tried to attack her, she would give up without a fight. It was likely that her tone of longing was actually her longing for death or another form of release.

"Please, Demon King. Kill me if you wish, but please take my soul. I do not want that shitty god to get his hands on it. I will do whatever you want, please just don't allow 'him' to take my soul." She bowed her head, her eyes shut.

Her hair hung like a curtain, a waterfall of blood.

I started to hear a soft dripping noise.

Looking down, I saw tear drops falling and hitting the slate roof.

I stepped forwards and lowered myself, squatting down as well, so that we were on the same level.

She twitched when she heard my movement.

Storing my wings, I changed my position and sat down cross-legged in front of her.

I reached out a hand and brushed her hair back, revealing her face. She raised her head slightly and her eyes met mine. As she stared unblinking into my eyes, I moved my hand and carefully brushed the tears from her face.

"What made you realize what Arre is like? Tell me your story."

After drying her face, I placed my hand on her shoulder.

While she instinctively trembled slightly, she seemed too apathetic to care about my touch.

 

She was probably telling the truth when she said that she would be willing to do whatever I wanted as long as I took away her soul.

Of course, being a Shureen of the Soul, taking the soul of someone so weak, and consenting, was very easy. Even with her Divine protection, to remove, or destroy, her soul would be as easy as snapping my fingers.

Of course, I didn't touch her soul yet, because there was a possibility that I could get an ally, or another minion.

The girl didn't exactly answer my questions yet, and she seemed to notice.

"I will tell you my story," She started sobbing, her tears constantly falling as though my words had removed a dam. Her hand reached out seemingly subconsciously, to touch mine which was still resting on her shoulder.

"I am already doing what I can to take that bastard down, if you wish to join me, I will welcome you." I spoke as she sniffled and tried to get control of her emotions enough to speak.

A little hope appeared in her eyes as I said this.

After struggling to control her tears, and shaking voice, she managed to make a tiny smile, and then she began her tale.