Except for the sound of rain that had started falling earlier, it was completely silent. The fires that had been burning for a good period of the night were now smoldering embers as the darkness turned into the twilight of the next day. Occasionally my nose would twitch with the periodic breeze wafting the smell of burnt flesh and blood into the otherwise still air.

Debris crunched underneath my feet as I searched the ruined remains of the church. Most of the structure had crumbled except for the back section with the pulpit. Almost like the deity was mocking me or something. Which I’m sure they were.

Turning over some of the rubble that fell from the ceiling, I started to wonder where Helia had gone off to as I was unable to find her anywhere in this mess. A normal parent would have started panicking a long time ago, but to me, this only meant that her regenerative ability had kicked in and that she had moved elsewhere. My only worry was what she would say once I saw her.

Losing control like that hadn’t happened in such a long time, I had been naive in thinking that I wouldn’t have to worry about something triggering my bloodlust like that. Most of the time it was a particular set of emotions combined with the thrill of battle that would send me over the edge. Usually, I was able to hold it back but the combination of events had made it nigh impossible.

I still had enough presence of mind to know that I hadn’t actually directly harmed Helia last night. It's not like a human being's drunken rage where they’ll probably end up forgetting what they did. But somehow that made this situation worse.

Hearing footsteps, I looked up to see four of my amber undead soldiers approach, asking me for instructions.

“Have any of you seen Helia?”

“She’s with two children inside a mostly intact house.”

Somehow I had forgotten that I could ask these undead questions like that as they would be able to communicate with each other. Perks of being dead I suppose. I remembered raising some more undead in my fury last night, all of them soldiers. Guess even a being like me wants her “troops” to match.

Wait a minute...

“Wasn’t there a man with them as well?”

“He attempted to sneak out of the house and we let him do so as he did not seem like an enemy at the time.”

Well that's bold of him...unreliable bastard. Oh well. Moving on.

“Send half the undead to guard the perimeter. Send the others to search for any survivors in this mess. If they managed to live through last night and maintained their sanity, I guess they deserve to live another day. One of you, guide me to where Helia is at.”

Giving a short bow, three of them left and joined the other undead as I followed the remaining one through rubble, debris, and corpses to where Helia was at.

How many undead did I even raise? Probably more than I should have. I watched as a number of undead combed through the ruins of the village. Undead were adept at sensing beings that were alive, so they were better suited to finding anything that had survived the night.

Walking down the destruction-filled street, I wondered how much of it was me and how much of it had been from before we had arrived. Honestly it was impossible to say but depending on who asked, I was prepared to answer either way.

Moments later, we arrived in front of the house that Helia and the two kids were in. Five undead in the dark purple armor stood on standby and gave a short bow as we approached.

I’m gonna have to rethink the whole undead color scheme if we decide to keep 'em around. Amber and purple would make for an odd mix...I think.

The amber soldier gave a bow and then left. All of this bowing was starting to get a little annoying to be honest. Anyways, to knock or not to knock...or maybe just throw the door open? Not sure why I’m even conflicted over such trivial things...let’s just go the polite route.

Lightly knocking on the door, I waited a little impatiently for someone to answer.

No one came, so I knocked again a little more forcefully. Still no answer.

Turning the knob, I entered the house quietly. Noticing that the left hand side had collapsed, I turned to the right to find a living room with a sofa and some other assorted furniture. But rather than using them, I saw the two kids sound asleep, curled up in Helia’s black wing, huddled in the corner. Helia looked up uneasily at me as I silently walked in.

Making eye contact, I softened my gaze and sat down next to them, wrapping my own wing behind Helia. My hand then encompassed Helia’s and I gave a light squeeze. I tilted my head slightly, waiting for her to say something, but she ended up turning her head away from me.

Man that hurts on a different level.

“Helia, I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“Mom...last night...was traumatizing. Getting hurt like that and...then getting abandoned…seeing all of that out there,” she whimpered.

At first I thought of ways to rationalize what had happened. Dealing with the demon. Losing control to bloodlust. Knowing that her regenerative abilities should keep her alive. So many excuses that I could throw out there.

“Helia, please look at me.” After a moment’s hesitation, she looked back up towards me. “I am more sorry than I have ever been in my entire life. As soon as we saw what was going on, I should have strongly encouraged you to go home. Then when we went to face that demon, I should have been more careful going in but I didn’t think about what could potentially happen to you or what would happen if I started to feel bloodlust. Up until now, I’ve been pretty much doing these things by myself, not having to worry about the potential consequences. I’m sorry for attempting to be your mother; I’m not really fit to do that sort of thing apparently. ”

Softening her own gaze, she surprised me by saying, “No Mom. Even though you’re not my biological mother, you’re still my Mom. That’s something that won’t change at this point. It's just I thought that I lost you last night but I just need to get used to my mother, the demon is all. I’m sorry for acting cold just now...just please don’t leave me like that again.”

Could I really promise her that? In the past, if something triggered my bloodlust, it didn’t really matter; there was no need to attempt to control myself. Now...things were different. I would certainly have to try.

“Unfortunately, I can’t say for certain but I’ll do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. At any rate we can take it easy for a little while,” I told her with a half-smile.

“Guess that’s good enough for now. Would you tell me later what exactly happened last night?” she asked, noticing that the two kids were starting to stir.

“Make sure to remind me. My memory is terrible sometimes.”

“I know.”

Rolling my eyes, I got up and debated what we were going to do with the two kids. More than likely their parents had perished during last night's events. Slim chance that either of the two had survived or had been away at the time. Well here's to hoping.

Just then, I heard a knocking at the door and went to open it. An amber colored undead bowed.

“Mistress, we’ve combed the area and have found 10 humans in the cellar of the church. None of them seem to have any critical injuries though they seem to be in a partial daze. Opening the cellar released a black vapor that fortunately dissipated once it hit the air. We have not found any other living beings so far. Also, we have spotted what appears to be a mechanized infantry battalion along with a company of heavy tanks approaching with caution from the east side.”

Sigh. No respite for the weary; I was somewhat tired after the action.

“They’re not acting like the others from last night?”

“No. Some have a few non-life threatening injuries but otherwise they are all docile for the time being.”

Alright...more fighting wasn’t appealing at the moment so...

I gave instructions for the purple colored undead to take the humans prisoner and to hold them hostage right in front of the east approach to the village. Figuring that no longer being subjected to the corruptive vapor would keep the survivors from going crazy, I was gonna make good use of them. As for the rest of the undead, I made sure to keep some on the perimeter while I directed the rest to take up defensive positions a short distance away from the hostages. The undead gave another bow and all of the nearby undead ran off to follow my instructions.

Turning back into the house, I saw Helia helping the two kids off the floor.

“How are you two doing?”

“Ok I think. Just a little hungry,” the boy mumbled.

“I want my mommy!” the girl cried out.

“Well we’re going to have to wait some time for both of those, ok? We gotta deal with some other stuff outside. The thing is I haven’t had enough time to clean things up yet so do you think you can hold Helia’s hands and close your eyes? I don’t want you two to see the mess that I made,” I asked using the same voice I had used when Helia was smaller.

They each nodded, grabbing Helia’s hands with their eyes closed.

“Don’t open them until I tell you to.”

Motioning for Helia to follow me with the kids, we left the house. Fortunately it had stopped raining as we started to head for where the captives were going to be. Helia’s eyes widened as we passed by fallen bodies and destroyed tanks. Seeing all of this in daylight was definitely different than seeing it in the dark. Regardless, I was glad I made the right decision for the kids; I didn't need them seeing a body that they recognized.

As Helia guided the two kids from stepping on anything inappropriate, the boy asked, “Will we see the demtroopers again?”

“What are those?” I asked.

“You know, the cool looking purple soldiers!”

“Oh. I guess you’ll see them soon enough. How’d you come up with that name?”

“You’re a demon, so I added demon and trooper together. I think it sounds cool!”

“Me too!” added his sister.

“What do you think Helia, does it sound cool?”

“I helped them come up with it actually…”

“..No need to be embarrassed. The name sticks.”

“Woo!”

After a moment passed I asked, “If you two know that I’m a demon, shouldn’t you be scared?”

With eyes still closed, the boy responded, “Helia’s so awesome, if she's a demon and you’re one too, then you’re just as awesome!”

“I like both of your wings,” the girl replied bashfully.

Part of my pride as a demon was wounded here but whatever...it was nice to be considered awesome. I figured they weren’t aware of who was behind last night’s fireworks show. Plus they didn’t need to know that Helia technically wasn’t a demon…

Carefully looking around a corner of a surprisingly intact three story building, about 100 meters away from us were ten purple demtroopers, each holding their managuns aimed at a kneeling captive in front of them. Loosely organized behind buildings and other cover, about 25 amber demtroopers took aim at what apparently was a battalion’s worth of soldiers wearing standard camouflage armor, spaced out and taking cover behind boulders, trees, armored vehicles, and anything else they could think of as cover considering their numbers. Supporting them were a handful of levitating tanks that had a rotating turret and looked bulkier than the ones I’ve seen so far, as well as what appeared to be transports for the troops that waited in the rear.

Eh I’m not feeling up for another fight right now but it looks like one could start any second now. Not to mention, I spotted a familiar looking red haired woman along with a certain dark haired male kneeling next to her.

If that’s who I thought it was…

On one hand I knew Helia would be happy, so I would be happy. On the other hand, I felt like I wouldn’t hear the end of it after all of this was over.

Sigh. It was much simpler when I only had to care about myself.

“Helia, can you take the kids inside one of these buildings and play with them for a little bit?”

“Okay. Come on you two. Let’s go find somewhere to play. Maybe we can find some food in there too.”

Helia tried the door to the nearby three story building and it opened. The two kids disappeared inside but before Helia went in, she turned around and said “Take it easy ok?”

She had an innocent smile on her face as she quickly walked into the building without giving me a chance to reply.

Take it easy…? What does that mean in this case?

At any rate I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

The building they entered looked like an inn. Good, they should have no problems with what's in there. Jump on a few beds. Raid the kitchen. I just hoped if things went sour, that they wouldn't be able to hear much.

After confirming they were inside, I continued around the corner of the inn and made my way slowly towards what most would describe as a crisis situation.

As soon as I walked into view, more than a few soldiers trained their weapons on me. Not only that but at least three of the turreted tanks focused their attention on me as well. I wondered if I could survive getting hit by those things.

Maybe? Experimenting didn’t sound like fun right now.

Having noticed that something new had caught the soldiers attention, some of the captives turned around and performed a bit of a double take when they saw me approaching. The red-haired woman and her dark skinned neighbor did the same as well, and I was able to verify that the two were the retired adventurer couple that we had spent a good part of a year with.

Here’s to hoping that their luck holds for another day...I didn’t want to explain to Helia that Nina and Lukas had survived one demon to only get killed by the antics of another.

“Hiiiii! How long are we going to keep up this staring contest?” I asked loudly, projecting my voice.

Standing in front of the demtroopers and captives, I placed my left hand on my hip, tilted my head to the right, and waved with my other hand like I was trying to get their attention. Not that I needed to as most of the guns were now pointed at me. Was this how a pacifist run was supposed to go? I don’t think the blood and grime that caked my body helped with that.

Honestly, I had only been in front of them for just like a minute but it had felt like an eternity. I did my best not to glance behind me as I didn’t want to catch Lukas or Nina’s eye. At that point, there was a bit of commotion on the other side as one of the transports lowered their ramp, and a middle aged man wearing a military looking uniform with no armor came walking out. Carrying no weapons, he was followed by a nervous looking man in similar attire who raced after him.

They started to walk this way and some of the soldiers started to go with them but the older man with short grey hair waved them to stay where they were. The two of them had what looked like some sort of communications device on them, a section of it wrapped around their heads and placed in their ears, with another part sticking out in front of their mouth. Before they got into suitable talking distance, the man said something into his device before pulling it off and handed it to the other man, who looked like he was a nervous wreck at this point.

I stood there curiously, examining the man who would approach me without any apparent worry. Even for his age, he looked fit and carried himself with dignity as he walked deliberately and stopped about four meters away from me. His aide stood behind him, a few meters away.

Come on, I won’t bite. Or not immediately anyway.

“Who might you be?” I asked with a neutral expression. Normally I would have leered or had a mocking smile for this type of conversation but I was trying to “take it easy.”

“I am Commander Ciarán Roche. Forgive the confusion as this situation is rather irregular, to say the least. I take it that you are wanting to negotiate something for those captives?”

“And I take that to mean these people hold some importance to you...I wonder why that is?”

“You are correct. I would like the safe return of those ten people there as well as anyone else that you may be hiding. I just don’t know what you want in return, Miss Amethyst.”

“I go by Alya by the way. Amethyst is just a nickname after all…”

Discussing with Lukas and Nina about raising Helia had been one thing but this was quickly turning into uncharted territory for me.

First off, this guy was bold enough to approach me without being armed in any way. Secondly, he seemed somewhat apprised of the situation so that would mean he had gotten information from somewhere...or was just good at hiding what he didn’t know. Last thing that bothered me was why didn’t they bother just shooting all of the demtroopers at once? I’m sure that could have been coordinated unless they had such poor accuracy that they would hit one of the captives.

Unless one of these captives was just that important?

Even if I looked them all over, I wouldn’t know who was who except for my two...friends? Anyways, as long as I knew how far they’re willing to go for someone in that group, that’s all I need to know.

All of that thinking only took a short moment before I said, “I don’t know what you could possibly give me in return. Honestly, I’m not even sure why I’m conversing with you. I thought this would be an entertaining scenario but it's quickly becoming boring.”

Without skipping a beat, he replied, “Well I’m sorry to hear that. I do try to be an enjoyable person to talk to. Regardless, my position within the Kingdom has enough pull that I should be able to grant any of the demands you may have, be it money, precious goods, or whatever else may strike your fancy.”

“And what position is that exactly?”

“A fairly high government position. My position as a commander is simply one of my additional duties.”

“So if I demanded you hand over the Kingdom to me?"

"I'm certain that could be arranged but let's be honest, if you wanted to conquer a nation for yourself, you would have done so already."

"Ya know, you may be right, but I'm not the sort to let my past dictate what I can and can't do. Maybe my priorities have changed? Whatever. I wasn't looking for that type of responsibility anyway."

I had thrown that out there just to test the waters but he hadn't outright rejected the idea either. Just managed to irritate me a little. Humans relied too much on the past to decide on their future and it irritated me to have them use their own thought patterns on me. Even though it was true I had no interest in conquering a nation.

Though destroying the Veplar Kingdom just went higher on my list of future goals...Ugh my task list is starting to fill back up.

Alright I don't technically need anything from these guys so…

"I have three demands I want fulfilled and if you agree to them, you can have these guys back."

"Only three? Let's hear them."

With a single finger in the air, "One: I want an enslaved demihuman by the name of Luiza given to me."

Looking genuinely puzzled, he asked, "And why would you want a demihuman slave and that one in particular?"

"Why would you go to such lengths to negotiate with a demon to get these people back?"

“Touché. We can get you that particular slave, though it may take some time to locate them and get them to you. What’s next? ”

“Apparently, Luiza is at the Royal Palace so if I don’t get her quick…,” I said smiling, emphasizing my fangs.

“Well then, we should be able to fill that demand easily then,” he said, nodding for me to go on. I noticed the man behind him, writing some notes using a pen and a small notepad while we conversed. Well at least he’s efficient.

Meanwhile, no one else seems to have moved, which thankfully meant that this should end without a fight.

Holding two fingers up, I said, “Two: I want the retired adventurers Lukas and his wife Nina, from this point onward, to be left alone by the guild, the government, and anyone else that might come knocking demanding for their services.”

I watched the man look confused once more after I finished stating my second demand. It gave me a sense of glee to throw him off so much. Unfortunately, he quickly reverted back to a neutral expression. Well my third demand should be fun.

“Just to confirm, you mean the two persons you’re currently holding hostage, correct? If you’re looking out for them, why not just withhold them from this negotiation and keep them to yourself?”

“Do I look like a human babysitter? That’s not what I’m here for. They’re retired and they’ve done their part already. I’m just making sure they don’t need to come out of their retirement if they don't want to.”

Hearing an intake of air behind me, I didn’t bother turning around at all. They helped me out after all so me tacking on this demand wasn’t going to be a problem.

Staring behind me with narrowed eyes, he replied, “Again, I don’t know what your involvement with those two is exactly but if they don’t do anything traitorous, then we can definitely do that.”

Nice. This is going rather well. Maybe I can become a diplomat. Ok. Number three…

Three fingers raised, “Alright. Demand number three: I want my daughter and I to be treated as official guests in your country for a period of time.

Complete and utter silence and then a second later, the sound of a pen and notepad hitting the ground.

Ummmmm. Was that too much to ask for?