Leaving Pearl for the first time in years, even if it was to go to a nearby village, was extremely surreal to the Savior. A part of her couldn't believe she was out here, on a horse she bought just for the sake of this short trip. She was almost expecting to arrive to a crowd of people laughing at her for going through this much effort to go help a man who hadn't been relevant to her life for such a long time.

Still, she made her way through dark trees as crickets chirped around her. Usually, it would take a couple of hours before she got there, but she took almost no breaks and managed to make it after a little over one and a half.

She noticed something the closer she got to the village. The world around her started to change. The sky was turning violet, the leaves and trees were starting to glow softly. The air got colder.

What she found though left her stunned. The village she was heading to was on fire.

Outside, she could see another spire-like violet object, the one her ex-husband had talked about in his letter.

What? She thought, getting off her horse. Already?

She hurried forwards. With sounds of swords clashing in the distance, screams and inhuman roars mixing in with them, she figured this battle must have just been starting. She quickened her pace further, he boots crushing leaves as she weaved her way between trees, eventually coming out to the road that led into the village.

She saw several demons and paused.

Kasumi was an illusion mage, mostly she excelled in trickery, but she wasn't defenseless. She pulled out the dagger she usually kept on her and closed her eyes.

"Blanket of reality, cover our visage." She muttered and she turned invisible. This part of the process was a gamble. If the demons were of a high enough level, her spell was useless. Not just that, but the spell only lasted a few minutes, and physical exertion reduced the duration. Still, it was the only way she could think of to get into the village without much trouble.

So, she walked up to the entrance, a small gate that had been torn open.

Immediately, she saw the chaos up close. Men and women were fighting for their lives, trying to hold off a swarm of monsters.

Level 9

Level 8

Level 12

She couldn't see the demons' levels, but she guessed the humans trying to defend themselves were simply too weak. One by one, Kasumi saw them fall. Since she was here though, she tried to help.

"Free the dragon of its shackles, let its roar make bones tremble." She put her hands together as she muttered the incantation, and above her, the image of a powerful dragon appeared. It flew into the air, making circles as some of the demons looked up, cowering at the sight of it. A few of the human warriors used the distraction to land killing blows on their enemies.

So, she understood, these guys aren't as powerful as the ones we saw in the portal. Or maybe the area itself was making them stronger. Regardless, I can work with this. Jonoko's portrait flashed through her mind. Hopefully, he's alright.

She nodded to herself and ran through the street.

Every now and then, she would reach up with a dagger and stab the back of a demon's neck. She ignored the EXP messages that popped up, she couldn't care less about that right now.

Where the hell did he live again? She asked herself, turning corners, but the fire spreading through each house was making her surroundings indistinguishable. Nothing was as she remembered it.

Her invisibility dropped. She waited a bit, to let her mana regenerate. As she moved, a few guards noticed her. One yelled: "Kasumi, the Savior!?"

Kasumi didn't respond. She heard a few warriors rallying themselves, but all she wanted to know was where her ex-husband was. As the fires died down for just a second, she caught glimpse of a house that seemed a little bit familiar to her. Upon drawing closer, memories long-buried came to her and she gasped.

That's it!

"Blanket of reality, cover our visage."

She cast her invisibility spell again and moved between multiple small skirmishes, trying to get to the house ahead of her.

She remembered then what things used to be like. Different times when she'd actually smiled often. When her days were blessed with a loving family and an existence she could be content with.

The image burned with the fires in front of her, spreading throughout the village.

She raced to the house ahead.

The front door was broken, leaving the entrance wide open. Kasumi searched from side to side, trying to find her ex-husband. She didn't want to call out to him though. She didn't want to risk alerting the demons fighting in the streets.

Things were eerily quiet here, something that contrasted harshly with the sounds of battle outside. Where...? Kasumi took a couple of cautious steps forward. If there was a demon here, she wanted to spot it before it saw her. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears when she moved past the living room and to the old bedroom that she and Jonoko had once shared. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room.

When she saw no one inside, she nearly turned to leave. However, as she was about to go, she heard someone say:

"Kasumi?"

Quickly, she turned and saw Jonoko exiting from the closet he was hiding in.

Kasumi's eyes ran up and down his form. He's changed a bit. She noted.

He was a slender, lanky man with short black hair and a thin beard. His brown eyes were clearly fearful, due to his situation. He was dressed in the robes of a priest, Kasumi noticed.

"You're alright," Kasumi said with relief.

"You actually came," Jonoko said that with so much shock, it surprised Kasumi how little faith he must have had in her. "I... I can't believe it."

"Yeah, well you're lucky I did. It's looking pretty bad out there."

"Y-Yes," her ex-husband wiped some sweat off of his face. His hands were trembling. "T-They came in the middle of the night. I... Suddenly, the sky had turned violet and then, they just appeared."

"I'll talk to the other Saviors about it once we're out, but right now, come on. We need to move."

"You're right," Jonoko nodded. "Lead the way."

Kasumi repeated the same invisibility spell, using it to cover both of them. With it, the two came out of the house and back onto the street, where the village was currently in the process of being destroyed. Here, Kasumi started to trace a path away from the chaos, weaving between the fights and the fires, so she could get the both of them to safety.

Jonoko must have noticed this because he asked:

"You're not going to help them?"

"What?" Kasumi asked back. "Are you kidding?"

"Kasumi, you have to do something. You're a Savior."

"I don't know if the time we've spent apart has made you forget this, Jo, but I'm just an illusion mage." She said as the two of them neared the exit. "What exactly can I do?"

"Don't say that," Jonoko stopped and Kasumi clicked her tongue, turning to face that. "You know exactly how strong you are."

''Not strong enough to stop this village from being destroyed though. I know that much." Kasumi stated. "Now, are you coming or not?"

"... At least try to save some others." Jonoko pleaded. "Look at them!" He gestured to the fighting guards, trying desperately to hold off demons much stronger than themselves. "Surely, you can get at least a few of them out of this."

"Jonoko, we don't have time for this, we need to go!"

"Kasumi," his tone dropped, "please. Don't let these people die like this."

The Savior looked away for a moment. The gate was right in front of her. She could take a few steps, leave and be back at Pearl before the sun rose. She figured that had to be the smartest choice to make. There was certainly no saving this village, at least, by herself.

A scream came from a nearby guard who got stabbed through the chest by a demon. Kasumi clenched her hands into fists. Just go, Kasumi, just... Then another, until finally, she'd heard enough.

"Fine. Go." She pointed back. "I'll help a few of them out, but that's all I can do."

"Thank you," he smiled before turning and running away. Kasumi breathed in.

How many of them can I even help?

She spotted two fights happening simultaneously. One was on her right, a woman was trying to hold back a demon with just a shield and a sword. On her left, two men were fighting three demons at once. Kasumi closed her eyes. She tried to think back to her days as an active Savior.

There had been spells she used at that time, ones that were far more powerful than the ones she'd used recently, but their incantations were also harder to learn.

What was it again?

"Sons of... No, stars of battle make, no, that's not it, fuck! Beings of war," she put her hands together, identifying the demons from both of the ongoing fights and marking them in her mind, "collide and let the sparks of death dance on the battlefield. Let all those who see the curse know each other as enemies."

Suddenly, those demons stopped and turned to face each other. The guards watched, confused. One of them screeched. Then another, until all of them were roaring at each other.

Finally, they ran straight at each other, tearing themselves apart.

"Run!" She told the guards. "The village is dead, go!"

"R-Right!" One guard said, running past her. Then, the others did and Kasumi watched as the demons slowly killed one another.

She searched the nearby streets, trying to find guards who were still alive and actually stood a chance at making it out.

Anyone else?

Up ahead, she found a guard pinned down by a demon, trying to hold the thing back. Kasumi approached, but he was unsuccessful, and the demon slashed his neck with its claws, killing him before Kasumi could reach. Fuck! That case was repeated a few times. She'd spot some guards who were still alive and they'd die right in front of her. She never saw any citizens, she figured most either escaped or were already dead.

The last person she saw that she could actually do something about was a man trapped under a piece of a house that had fallen on top of him. The piece was on fire, currently spreading and threatening to burn him to a crisp. Kasumi ran forwards.

"Help!" The man cried out and Kasumi knelt beside him. She wasn't particularly strong at all, but she hoped their combined strength would be enough to pull this off.

"You're going to have to help yourself a little here," Kasumi informed him as she placed her hands under the wood.

"U-Uh, yeah, whatever!" He said, putting his hands on the wood as well.

"One, two, three!"

It wouldn't budge. Kasumi gritted her teeth as she continued to pour in what little strength she had.

It seemed hopeless.

"Come on!"

"I'm... Trying!" The man stated.

Then, Kasumi heard a roar from her left. She turned, fear entering her heart as she saw a demon staring straight at them.

"Hold on," she muttered. "Blanket of reality, cover our visage." She cast her invisibility spell, moving her eyes back to the wood beside her, but the roar persisted.

Her eyes widened.

Oh no. She looked back at the demon and the creature was still staring at her. No...

Whatever its level was, it was too high for her spell.

It charged towards her, its teeth bared and its blank eyes aiming right at them. Kasumi let the wood go and turned to face the demon. She was breathing heavily, her heart cold when the demon reached her.

"Let the ice in my veins be seen!" Using a spell from the Ice category of magic, she aimed a hand at the demon and cold mist poured out from her palm.

The demon, irritated, halted and started swiping back and forth, trying to get the mist out of its eyes. Kasumi reached for her dagger and planted it in the demon's neck, earning gargling sounds as the demon fell in front of her.

Then, Kasumi turned back to the man.

And then, she gasped. The flames had reached the top of the wood. He was seconds away from certain doom.

"No, no, no, no!" Kasumi put her hands on the wood and tore them away instantly when she was burned by it. The man looked at her with pleading eyes. I...

"Please, please, it burns!"

Kasumi only had one idea. She didn't know any Ice magic powerful enough to put the fire out, but maybe she could soften the intensity of the flames just long enough to help. So, she cast the same spell she'd used on the demon, only this time, she placed her hands on the wood before activating it, so that the cold mist would clash with the fire as she tried to pull it up.

"It's up to you now," she let him know, "I'm not strong enough!"

And so, on their second try, the man tried his absolute hardest as the pair pulled the piece of wood up.

They were successful. He slid out, letting it go and Kasumi sighed with relief.

"N-Now, *cough* come on," she said.

She helped the man get to his feet and the two of them ran out, moving past the demons.

She'd helped everyone she thought she could. Now, all she could do was escape.

Then, the village fell, a ring of flames indicating what used to be a small human settlement that was now drowned in blood and demons. Kasumi stood outside, in the woods with some of the survivors.

"You did what you could," Jonoko told her. She didn't respond.

"S-Savior," one citizen went up to her as she watched the village burn. "What will happen now? Will they come for Pearl!?"

Kasumi watched the fires move in front of her, consuming what remained.

"We need to get to the city," she replied.

What the fuck is happening? She asked herself. Why now?

She had no answers though. All she could do was guide the couple dozen survivors back to Pearl.

The farther they got from the village, the less that strange violet aura surrounded them, the more normal the sky turned, until eventually all of those signs of the demon's presence seemed to disappear.

What the hell is going on?

---

Ash

The Next Day

After hearing about Keiko's situation, the half-demon and Kaori stopped to think about what they could do. They had to find a way to keep Keiko around. Aside from the fact that the Zayama girl herself didn't want to leave, just the thought of not having Keiko nearby didn't feel right to either Ash or Kaori.

The half-demon was walking around the house when she saw Keiko outside, in her meditating pose. Ash sighed and walked up to her.

"Hey," she called out. Keiko looked back, clenching her hands into small fists.

"Hello," Keiko's head tilted down.

Ash sat down next to her. The skies were clear today, allowing the sun to bathe the two of them in warm rays. Ash looked at her and asked:

"So, what are we going to do?"

"... I don't know." Keiko shrugged. "She's right, about what she said about the whole Spirit Eye thing. The Zayamas kind of live by their own rules. Since I haven't awoken mine, they can do what they want with me."

"That's pretty fucking stupid," Ash barked out and Keiko chuckled.

"It made sense to me as I grew up there, now though, not so much."

"So, you just need to awaken your Spirit Eye or whatever. Sounds simple enough." Ash responded and Keiko stood up.

"I wish it were," She put her hands on her hips. "I've tried since I was a teenager to unlock the ability, but I've never been able to. I-I met the requirements, I can meditate as well as some mages, by rights, I should have it already." Keiko explained. "But, no such luck."

Ash listened and looked away.

"I'm guessing there's something you're missing?" Ash asked.

"Well, of course." Keiko chuckled. "The question is 'what'?"

As Ash couldn't offer any answers to her, all they could do was sit around in silent contemplation.

---

A few hours later, another letter came.

This one didn't have much to say though, instead, it simply stated:

"Here is your pay for the last two missions. We will be sending you a few sets of armor and a traveling merchant will visit your house for you to buy food and supplies, should you need them." Metsumi read.

Ash was sitting in the living room with the others, all of them enjoying some lunch the older woman had cooked up.

"Is there anything from Satsuhiro in that?" Ash asked.

"Uhm, no," Metsumi replied, checking.

"Hey," Ash thought of something, "are there any Zayama's at Pearl?"

"I would guess not," Keiko responded. "Though, maybe. It's not uncommon for Zayamas to travel, but most prefer to stay near the compound."

Ash nodded.

"Maybe when we go there we can ask around," she suggested. Keiko seemed to appreciate that, smiling a little.

"That seems like a good idea," Keiko replied.

At that moment, Ash felt something strange. She took a deep breath, scratching her head.

Then, a message appeared over her.

[Status Effect Gained: Niven's Blessing]

[While in Niven's site of power, all of a demon's attributes are increased]

Ash stood up. She felt like she had gotten slightly stronger, but she didn't understand why.

"What's up?" Kaori asked, noticing her strange behavior.

"I..." She turned around then, walking out into the fields, looking out in the direction of the portal she and the blonde had encountered.

Her eyes widened.

The sky had become slightly tinged with violet, and from the forest, there was a strange violet aura. One that was attracting Ash. She felt herself wanting to walk toward it, bask in it.

The others followed her out, including Metsumi.

"Something's going on," Ash stated. "I think something's happening with the portal."

Metsumi, who usually carried one of the lighter personalities out of everyone Ash knew, had a serious expression on her face.

"This could be bad," Metsumi said, "girls, go pack your things."

"Mom?" Opah, Metsumi and Satsuhiro's shy daughter, walked up to them, "What's...?"

Metsumi smiled at her, crouching.

"Go to your room, get your clothes, and put them all in a bag. Okay?"

"O-Okay."

Kaori and Keiko went to do the same. Ash and Metsumi remained out in the fields, staring ahead.

"What do you think?" Metsumi asked.

"I don't know," Ash breathed in, feeling like sugar was entering her lungs. "But I don't think it's anything good."