Flying inland, the forest is seems unending – a veritable second sea to cross, this one made of trees. Eventually though they began to thin, giving way to clearings covered with smaller greenery and today after merely a day of flying we spot the first sign of habitation since we left The Gates of Alexandria. A worn dirt road cutting through the – now slightly sporadic – trees. Pink and I wordlessly follow it, hundreds of feet above the ground so we won't be immediately visible to anyone on the ground. Pink is leading, and has cast her magic once more since we set out from the coast – still no sign of other demons or “Holy Relics”.

The entire flight over Suprema has been quiet as Pink has deigned to leave me to my thoughts. Sensing my bad mood at her unveiling of her plan I suspect. Part of me wants to speak up and reassure her – I've deliberately surrendered control to her here, I won't complain about her methods. It's good we have a direction and if she actually manages to get her hands on the Chain, well it can probably solve our problem of balance. As for what happens after that – well whatever problems that may crop up should be less fundamental than the one we currently face; not problems I will have any reason to involve myself in in other words. So it's fine, everything is great, the end is in sight. Would that I could just go back to sleep…

“Pink, look.” The slightly awkward silence forgotten, blown out of my mind by this new sight, I point below us. There is a patch of dirt, surrounded by a crude wooden fence, next to a crude wooden house, and standing there is …something.

“I see it mistress.” Mana is condensed so thickly around Pink's eyes they are glowing a bit green. “A beastkin of some variety. We must be getting close.”

“Do the humans and beastkin live in the same places Pink?”

“I'm afraid I can't say for sure mistress but at the very least I was taught that they have something of a cooperative relationship. Having never left Artas, it's all hearsay I'm afraid. But it is a promising sign. We'll press on until we find a settlement of some variety.”

So we flew on, and slowly the forest disappears entirely – giving way to a seemingly endless plain, broken by gentle hills and occasional small clusters of trees. The road we were following grows steadily larger, from a tiny goat trail into a well-packed fifteen or so foot across dirt road that constantly splits in some places and disappears into the fields surrounding it. And some of these fields are occupied, here and there all over the land there are structures – widely spread but clearly part of the same community – wooden dwellings and boxy storehouse-looking things. We also see a multitude of both humans and beastkin, all in ones or twos in their respective fields – scrabbling about in the dirt. Seeing it stirs in me distant memories, humans have always had a great love for digging in the dirt it seems, I remember the few times they broke ground on Artas the first thing they would do was make square fields like these from them to play in – or whatever it is they do.

By unspoken agreement Pink and I ignore these humans – it's unclear what their purpose out here might be but there can be no meaning to introducing ourselves to some random human guardsmen or whatever out in the middle of nowhere. And eventually our patience is rewarded when on the horizon appears a human town. It's nothing to look at, just a large cluster of maybe two or three dozen wooden buildings clustered together alongside the road – which incidentally continues off into the distance. There isn't even a wall or any obvious defensive measures in place, confirming my suspicions that Suprema is a safe place filled with soft creatures. We stop well outside the city, still at a distance that any human inside would probably mistake us for birds or something if they weren't using powerful magical visual enhancements. I don't know exactly how well humans can see but I seem to remember that it's not as well as demons – vision as pathetic as the rest of their physical capabilities.

“Unless I miss my guess there are probably no humans of great power or prestige here.” Pink states confidently. “This is an excellent opportunity to discern human opinion of demonkind with no particular risk to us even if we end up having to kill them all.”

“Well we should probably try to avoid killing anyone Pink. Even if there are no witnesses there are ways to detect that sort of thing. Better to not antagonize the human nation of unknown power.”

“Understood Mistress. Shall we go?”

With a nod I descend. Dropping from the sky like a stone and landing heavily on the dirt road that has lead us this far, the impact kicking up a small cloud of dust. Any other means of descent is just wasted energy you know? It's not like a fall of this degree could hurt me. Pink lands beside me a moment afterwards – having daintily floated down with her wings. We're maybe two hundred feet from the human settlement – I can see the humans within perfectly at this distance, though it doesn't look as if any of them have noticed us. Currently there is a large cluster of humans around a cart on the road, near the entrance, moving some logs around it looks like – loading them into the cart, or maybe taking them out? Whatever it doesn't matter – and I begin to walk towards them Pink at my side.

There is some sort of commotion regarding the cart, one human is yelling to make himself heard over all the others. Pointing at the logs, then pointing at the cast, then pointing at the other humans – shouting all the while in unintelligible gibberish. Some of the other humans are yelling back at him, making their own odd gestures and sounds – but most of them are just clustering around the cart in a semi-circle seemingly content to just look on. It is one of those onlookers who spot us first – when we are about thirty feet from the edge of the settlement proper, far closer than we should have been able to get without being spotted really. The man who first spots me just stares, seeming dumbfounded, a reaction that seems to spread the closer we get as more of the onlookers spot us.

The shouting man seems to have cowed most of the rest of the group when we arrive on the scene. Only one of the other humans is still arguing with him – halfheartedly at that, his body language clearly signaling his resignation – when he notices us. Looking at him he's nothing much, and by extension none of these humans can be anything much if they're being ruled by this man. He stands about half a head taller than me, 5'8” or 5'9” maybe, his skin is a lightly tanned color, his eyes are blue human-looking eyes, atop his head is a mess unkempt black hair, and he has a thick black beard. His muscles are lean, but unenhanced by magic to my eyes, in fact nothing about him reacts to my mana sense – like some stupid orc or goblin, a creature completely without magic.

The rest of the humans are much the same, their heights vary and hair colors vary, but they all have the same lean and muscular frames and skin tanned by the sun. Actually two of them have significantly darker skin than the others but are otherwise unremarkable – and three of the fifteen gathered men aren't even human but beastkin. The three of them stand together, looking much like their human comrades, but for their much more heavily muscled frames and slightly bestial characteristics. Mostly more body hair in odd colors and places, strange facial bone structures to house their fangs and odd looking noses, and triangular ears atop their heads. But otherwise very human-looking. Everyone here is dressed in roughspun clothes. Simple, dirty, gray or brown tunics and breeches. Well everyone but the black haired man who seems to be their leader – his clothes were slightly better put together and made from leather of some kind.

The leader stops shouting when he sees us. And for a moment there is silence – all the humans staring at us – and us staring right back. The black haired leader composes himself more quickly than any of the others, narrowing his his and inspecting me from head to toe, his gaze slightly unpleasant as it crawls up my body stopping for a moment on my breasts before continuing up to my face and then lingering on my horns. Perhaps sensing my discomfort, or maybe just remembering our stated purpose in being here, Pink steps forward – between me and the group of humans – and introduces us.

“Greetings humans, you stand in the presence of the Demon King – come to aid you in your time of need.”

Now all the humans are staring at Pink. Her slinky cocktail dress leaves little to the imagination so that can't be pleasant. Though maybe what they're ogling is the fabric, such finely made cloth must be something like treasure to people like this right? My mind drifts onto a strange tangent while we await some reaction other than 'stunned silence'. As expected, maybe, the black haired man recovers first. Wrenching his gaze from Pink he turns to one of the beastkin and spouts some more gibberish, thrusting his arm out toward the road that exits the opposite side of the village, before rounding back onto Pink. The beastkin depart as one after hearing his words, sprinting away from us and out of the village. I follow them with my eyes idly, noting that after passing beyond the limits of the town they drop to all fours to increase their speed – apparently in a great hurry.

“Blf, dsl ziv blf? Dszg ziv blf? Fmylfmw?” The man steps toward Pink while speaking, his voice interrogative.

Well. We really should have foreseen a problem like this I suppose. Pink is frowning while the man continues forward, spouting more gibberish all the while. The other humans are starting to speak as well, nervous interjections, tones ranging from frightened to interested.

“...wvnlmh?”

“...ztvmgh lu gsv vmxilzxsnvmg?”

“...hl kivggb...”

A clamor of curious voices all around us. The humans taking shuffling half-steps forward as if to get a better look at us, their faces are unreadable to me. Angry maybe, or just curious, or some other thing – who knows reading people is not one of my skills. Pink however is easy, she's radiating hostility, glaring up at the leader who is in turn glaring down at her – still speaking rapidly in his own language. In fact I'm surprised these humans are daring to press forward with Pink standing amidst them, practically oozing intent to kill, considering their completely negligible magical signatures. Can creatures with so little mana even be classified as life? Even an orc has more than this.

“Enough. Approach no further! Listen to me, I am the emissary of a king and you...” Her patience seemingly expended Pink materializes her sword and – holding it in a two handed grip – slams it blade down into the dirt in front of her. Drawing a clear line in the sand between us and the humans ranting at them all the while.

The humans reactions are varied at the appearance of a weapon. Many of them step back while exchanging nervous glances. Their voices, however; do not decrease – instead they begin talking to each other louder and with greater fervor.A cacophony of annoying and unintelligible gibberish – this is becoming irritating. I hope Pink has a solution in mind but looking at her – currently engaged in an impassioned argument with the black haired human in which neither party can understand the other – it seems unlikely. So while loosing a sigh I step forward passing Pink and her barricade – lamenting that it seems that this much work is simply unavoidable – in front of a youngish looking human with blonde hair.

“...Mistress?” Pink's uncertain voice sounds behind me.

“Tvg zdzb uiln srn!” Her black haired friend seems to have some thoughts as well...

Ignoring both of them I focus my attention on the blonde haired man, allowing a dozen lines of green fire to appear in the air behind me shaping themselves into the Formations I need. And at this silence descends – the humans now all focusing their attention on me, no long babbling. Peripherally I can see eyes widening in terror, knees shaking, general expressions of fear all around. The blonde man before me especially looks as if he's about to collapse on the spot – so badly are his legs trembling. But for me to not understand is an intolerable state of affairs that must be rectified. Alexandria is not ignorant. By now my magic is almost fully formed, a large ring of arcane symbols – pulsing green with demonic energy – hovers in the air at about waist-level with Pink, the blonde haired human, and I inside of it. None of the humans look happy at this development but none of them seem willing to do anything about it either – so after a quick glance around to ensure no one was going to try to tackle me or something equally suicidal I begin.

Raising my hand I extend a finger as if to point at the blonde man, a small green flame appearing on the tip. The Word I want is a complex one – not just in its design but also in its meaning – so it's wise to manually construct the thing. Which is what I do, slowly gliding my finger through the air, leaving trails of green fire hanging in midair, slowly taking the form of the Word I need. A word that – when written like this – means comprehension. The whole process takes me not even a minute and the completed Word hangs in the air between us, glowing slightly ominously. Now – for the finishing touch – I prepare to speak the Word aloud and utilize both my Formation and my incantation to ensure the effect is precisely as I desire.

“Zelfero.” I speak. The formation shatters. The green fire burns itself into nothing in an instant, vanishing as wisps of smoke on the wind. The formation surrounding us lasts a moment longer, redirecting the expanding energies back inward pushing the flow of magic into the bodies of the people in the circle – the blonde man's entire body has gone stiff and rigid, eyes wide, his face locked in a mask of terror. And as the magic passes through him and continues on to us like a wave – our own waves returning to him in turn – he dies without ceremony. His body unable to cope with the strain of so much mana – such a fragile thing. But before that what I needed has been successfully extracted and as the 'wave' breaks over me I can feel his knowledge pouring into my head – knowledge of language and speech, extracted from his mind like sap from a tree.

Pink has dropped to one knee as she receives the same – her body able to cope with the strain but still forced to its knees by the force. I close my eyes, focusing on internalizing the new knowledge, the method was a distasteful one but I really don't feel like spending days trying to piece together yet another unknown language when a more direct method exists. Maybe thirty second pass like that and I open my eyes again, slightly regretful the human died – it was not my intent to declare hostilities in such a manner, after all the lecturing I've been giving Pink, but my defensive circle that was meant to absorb most of the force was damaged before the spell even reached it by the mana in my voice. Something I failed to account for when conceiving the spell. Unfortunate. Hopefully the situation can be salvaged, explain to the other humans my error and make Pink apologize...

That thought dies in my mind as I look around, standing in the center of a ring of corpses. Ah. Oops. Seem the barrier failed its containment more dramatically than I'd first realized. But. The goal was accomplished – I think – so it's probably ok? I mean no one saw that we did this – so it should be fine. A scream from behind breaks off my thoughts.

“NOOOOO! Monsters! What have you done! Someone come hel-MMHFMG-” A young blonde human women has arrived on the scene – a woven basket on the ground forgotten in her hysteria. She's pointing at us and screaming for help when Pink closes the distance nearly instantly and slams a palm over her mouth. Internally I praise her restraint, in not killing the loud women, and a satisfied smile creeps across my face at the woman's screams – or at least my ability to understand them – confirming my spell worked as intended.

"Pink, with the spell I can now understand the words of these humans, what of you?” I speak in the strange human language – to better accustom myself to it. Simultaneously consciously suppressing the mana that wants to leak into my voice to the highest possible degree. The screaming woman winces at my voice but seems otherwise unaffected – another test concluded splendidly, I can communicate with these creatures if the situation ever calls for it. But the effort is really too much – I won't be doing this if I can avoid it at all I decide on the spot – should be fine for me to just stand over Pink's shoulder and glare aloofly.

“Ye-” Pink turns to look over her shoulder and respond to me before immediately cutting herself off. “Yes mistress, it seems to have been effective for me as well – I would appreciate if you would warn me in the future before pulling something like that though, I felt I would drown in your mana.” She responds in the human language – following my lead.

“Excellent” I say with tight control. “From hereon use this language – it will ensure you do not forget it. That would be ...annoying. Now ask your questions of that creature if you please, it is only a matter of time before more humans stumble upon this scene.”

Pink understands my intent and returns her attention to the woman – still struggling in her grip.

“Human, I have questions for you, answer them and you might live to see the morrow. If you attempt to run or call for help ...well you aren't the only human here. I assume you understand.” Pink gazes deep into the woman's eyes as she speaks – and the human gazes back her struggles slowing until she just stands there inert – looking into Pink's eyes. Then the human gives a tentative nod and Pink releases her – giving her hand she just removed a quick wave, and burst of green fire covers it for a moment. Taking a moment to groom herself – I suppress the urge to roll my eyes, not as if touching a human is any more dirty than flying hundreds of miles naked to the elements.

“...I understand.” The human's voice has become slightly flat as she stares intently back into Pink's eyes, apparently taken by Pink's racial Charm. This should be easy in that case. Pink doesn't miss the chance and dives directly to the heart of the matter.

“What do you know of The Encroachment, human?” Pink wraps her hand around the back of the humans head as she speaks, increasing their proximity to enhance the effects of her Charm I assume. A succubus' innate ability to Charm is widely considered useless – few demons can be swayed by such methods unless the difference in power is so great that outright destruction would be the faster method anyway – but it seems effective against humans if this woman is any indication. Standing amongst her fallen comrades, thoughts of them completely driven from her mind.

“The Encroachment... is the name given to humanities war against The Unbound.”

“The Unbound?” Pink prompts leaning forward until their foreheads are nearly touching.

“The Unbound are … agents … agents of The Encroachment. Monsters t-that the Demon God has unsealed. Releasing their full potential as monsters, by way of revenge for what happened to Her Children.”

I can see a vein pulsing in Pink's temple so I lightly lay a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't turn – doesn't want to break the Charm – but I see her relax slightly. “No human, I asked you what are The Unbound – I did not ask for your ridiculous theology.”

The woman frowns, considering how to answer. Her thoughts undoubtedly terribly muddled, having been held by a Charm by one such as Pink – with her paltry resistance to mana. “The Unbound are … monsters. Monsters native to the lands they walk upon marked by an unnatural glow of evil demonic magic. I have seen …many …so much …I don't want t-to …remember.” She's stuttering and tears are forming in the pits of her eyes as she finishes. Such curious creatures humans – I've never seen Pink react remotely like this woman…

“You seem knowledgeable – for a peasant farmer – how have you come by your knowledge of The Unbound?” Pink asks.

“...every citizen of the Imperium faces mandatory conscription for five years. T-to help c-combat the horde… the unending, insati-”

“Enough.” Pink cuts her off before she can begin crying in earnest. “What do you know of demons?”

Even through her stupor – the woman seems surprised at this question – but it doesn't delay her response. “Demons are … fairy tales … a race wiped out hundreds of years ago, is what I heard on The Frontline.”

“Haah...?” Pink let's out a stupid sound. “What do you think you're looking at then?”

The pause that follows spins out longer than any before it – before the woman chokes out: “...agents of The Encroachment...?” in a whisper.

“What? Why?”

“...are you ...not Unbound Celestials?” And I see every muscle in Pink's body tense – if not for my hand on her shoulder she would have undoubtedly snapped the woman's neck – so insulted she is by the implication. Instead she releases her captive – stepping backwards and gently pushing the woman away, knocking her to the ground.

“Enough …enough. We have learned what we might from this creature. The Celestial we met had a similar first impression did he not? Haha.” Pink starts talking to herself like a lunatic – grievously wounded at being mistaken for a Celestial I assume. “Ah, wait, one more question.” She looks down at the dazed woman sitting on the ground.

“These Unbound – they should have magical hearts, yes? – do you know what happens to those hearts? Are they destroyed?”

“The hearts …if we had time – after a battle – we would be sent out to collect them …foul things… after that we would hand them over to the officers to be destroyed.”

“Your human officers had the power to destroy the hearts?” Pink presses.

“I- ...yes? I think? Why else would they collect them? And the guild too …the guilds collect the hearts and use some …Celestial magic? I really don't know. I was just a scout.” The human gives a stammered and unsure response but a promising one – if anyone could do it it would be the Celestial's after all. And while returning the balance is our number one priority – some method will have to be used to purge the world of the corrupted once that is done.

“Pink.” I, with great effort, restrain my voice. “I doubt those 'guilds' are located here – we should press on and see what we might find of them and their methods. I'm not wrong – am I human?” I throw an indifferent glance down at the cowering woman – who is now clutching her ears with her hands, a thin trickle of blood leaking from her nose. Well. She'll recover from that much damage. It's fine. She looks up at me and responds:

“...n-no the guilds do not come to areas like this, occasionally adventurers arrive to clear out the Unbound – but the closest guild is f-fa-”

And Pink is on the woman like a shot – slamming her head into the ground – I wince slightly at the spatter. “You. You dare to address the Goddess filthy human?! For this a thousand dea-”

“Pink.” I cut in before she can start ranting in earnest. Looking down at the mess she's made. “It seems she had only one life to give.” Noticing what she's done Pink stands back up, bathing herself in emerald flame as she does.

“Well. I can hardly admonish you after what I've just done.” I nod at the circle of corpses. “But do endeavor to control yourself, in the future, Pink.”

Looking properly abashed Pink replies sheepishly: “Yes, my apologies mistress, but we were going to have to keep our involvement of this village a secret anyway – this much should not hinder us overmuch. And for that creature-”

I cut her off with a raised hand.

“No excuses Pink” I tell her in the strange human language. “From this point forward no killing humans without my explicit consent – understood? It seems they may have some powerful magic indeed if they can destroy the corrupted hearts. No point in needless animosity.”

Sighing Pink nods her agreement “I understand Mistress. Though these humans – at least – are pathetically weak...” she says morosely.

“Indeed. Ignorant as well. That woman said nothing of the mana imbalance during your questioning.” I say.

“No, instead she was spouting some insanity – blaming you – typical of a humans to blame demons for all their woes. But I doubt she is the most well-informed human, perhaps that is merely superstition among peasants? We can find out more when we find that “guild” she mentioned. There's nothing more for us here.” Pink replies, glancing indifferently around at the small ring of corpses we've created.

I give her a vague nod of acknowledgment and spread my wings, taking to the skies to continue our journey. It seems self-control is something we both need to work on.