The sun was high in the sky by the time Riza and Tanniya were nearly upon Edderdorf.

They had run for the remainder of yesterday and even though Riza finally managed to send an [Inform] to Lefie, and getting a response that they were all safe and fine, that didn’t stop Riza’s worry.

She woke up bright and early and pulled Tanniya up alongside her as well and they’d been running ever since.

Riza’s legs ached and her chest burned, a small part of her annoyed at Tanniya’s casual bounds, but she soldiered through any and all pain, wanting to get to Edderdorf before nightfall.

Her worry skyrocketed. The closer they got, the clearer and clearer it became that it wasn’t all peachy in the village; there had been fighting. No smoke or fires, thankfully, but what seemed to be an intact village from a distance very much wasn’t so.

The left half of the place seemed fine; as you’d expect from anywhere else. The right, not so much. The ground was torn up and rumbled, the buildings partially destroyed and then just gone.

A sinkhole, right there, on the edge of the village. A demon nest. At least it didn’t destroy everything like at Hotton but even with Lefie and Klannar there, two highly levelled people, they were powerless to stop it.

The only person capable of preventing something like this was Daven.

Riza bounded past the outermost buildings as she neared the hole, hopping over debris and running past the weary and dazed civilians.

Flecks of ice started to appear. Icicles lodged in buildings, entire walls frozen, the ground too slick and cold to move properly. Riza slowed her running to a brisk walk to maintain her balance.

“Lefie? Where are you? Are you alright?” Riza worried sent.

The sweet sounds of the teenager’s voice made her heart at ease.

“I’m okay! I’m near the nest, helping people rebuild.”

Riza raced over there in record time, leaving Tanniya confused at her sudden direction change.

And there she was. Absolutely covered in blood, Lefie was talking to an older, grizzled man with a large, wooden plank in his arms. Beside the pair of them was a floating platform of ice, carrying a few more planks of wood in an ingenious display that melted Riza’s heart.

Before Riza even said anything, the girl’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw Riza. The ice platform dropped to the ground as the pair ran at each other.

Riza wrapped up the smaller girl in the tightest hug possible, all the anxiety and worry leaving her arms.

“Are you okay? Are you okay? Whose blood is this?” She whispered quickly, squeezing tightly.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. It’s demon blood,” Lefie replied, now trying to extricate herself from the hold.

Riza reluctantly loosened her grip, her arms sliding to hold Lefie by the shoulders. Riza’s face shifted to a stern frown.

“I told you not to fight the demons. Look at you! You must’ve gotten too close for all this blood to get on you. You should’ve just let Klannar handle it all and keep yourself safe,” She scolded, trying fruitlessly to wipe off the blood.

Lefie, in turn, frowned as well.

“I wasn’t going to watch people die, Riza! I can help, so I did. You need to stop babying me!”

“Babying? But I do-“

“Yes you do,” Lefie said with such sternness Riza withdrew a little inside herself. “You weren’t even going to let me come without me pestering you about it for a hundred times!

“In fact, that’s the same with everything! You go somewhere dangerous and I don’t. You went to the bunker, you went to deal with Death, even Andreya went to confront the Lord. What did I do? Stay safe and sound underground, far away from the action.

“I can do stuff, Riza,” Lefie pleaded in the sweetest of tones that broke Riza’s heart. “I killed so many humanoid demons for you. You trusted me then. What’s changed?”

“I’m-I… I’m sorry,” Riza sighed with the weight of a thousand worlds bearing down on her. Her hand slipped up to cup Lefie’s cheek. “I don’t want to lose you again,” She croaked out.

Lefie leaned into the touch while Riza swallowed, thinking of her next words carefully.

“I promise, I will improve.”

A small smile eked out onto Lefie’s lips.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Some part of Riza would’ve liked to leave the village in the state it was in and hurry back to Rensenfeld to deal with bigger problems but Lefie was having none of that. She roped in both Riza and Tanniya to help with the reconstruction.

Tanniya turned out to be immensely useful. Her strength rapidly sped up the transportation of materials and she could even help in building somewhat.

And there was even more good news in that Tiffany had increased her level cap! By the time Riza had found her, she was holding a pitchfork in front of a dead greater demon, trapped within icy manacles.

Apparently, with the teamwork of Lefie and Klannar, they managed to subdue the creature enough for Tiffany to get the landing blow.

Tiffany and Riza jumped down into the nest towards the end, and Riza scooped up all the fog like a vacuum cleaner. They walked a little bit but found no humanoid demon. There were remnants of hives left over but no parasite demons inhabiting them. It seemed whatever was left had run off, annoyingly.

Tanniya did a lot of destruction and managed to close up the tunnels with a series of collapses, hopefully making the place a whole lot safer.

Riza made a note to herself to send Daven down here in the future to repair all the damage.

They stayed a little while longer to clean up but they really needed to be going and after Riza had stressed the importance of her plan, Lefie reluctantly agreed to leave, but not without saying goodbye to a startling large number of villagers she had helped out in one way or another.

The return journey to Rensenfeld was quicker than coming to Edderdorf, mostly due to the lack of any diversions. Their driver was thankfully safe and able to take them back with ease.

Along the way, they also received notice that Meren had accomplished her task as well. It apparently was a nest that she had taken care of, and she was returning to Rensenfeld as well.

Once they had arrived, they quickly returned to the Lord’s Manor and it was there that Andreya gave them an update: not good.

More and more people were leaving. Protecting the people of the province from demons was all well and good but that news didn’t spread and, truthfully, it was the city population that were at a greater risk of leaving than anyone else, and Riza had done little to convince them to stay.

Riza panicked a little bit but mostly tried to ignore it; she had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

[Message]s and [Inform]s were sent out until everyone, including Tanniya and Klannar, had gathered in the dining room.

“We have a big opportunity,” Riza began, a map thrown out in front of her.

“Here, near Edderdorf, Tanniya and I found a nest. The nest has been subjugated and placed under our command.”

“Like when we were in Kratten?” Daven asked, and Riza confirmed that was the case.

“This nest contains a humanoid demon who controls an elder greater demon, potentially stronger than any I’ve ever seen before.”

“So you control the elder greater demon?” Meren asked.

“I do. It’s a worm demon, the sort that made those massive tunnels around the quarry.” Meren’s eyes opened wide at that information.

“And I want to kill it.” Riza paused for dramatic effect but quickly felt awkward so carried on talking.

“Only five people can benefit from its level cap increase so it’s a tight selection.

“The most important thing is survivability. It is big and it is deadly. If you can’t take one hit, you’re too risky to take along. Daven, Sanders, as much as it hurts me to do this, neither of you can join in.”

“That’s understandable. We’ve got other ways we can grow,” Daven said, and Sanders just grunted.

“[Perfect Body] is important here to have enough health to survive. That means Tanniya, Adewyn, and Meren are all involved as well. Including me, that brings us up to four.

“The last one, is Lefie,” Riza turned to look at the shocked girl.

No matter what reasoning Riza would give the rest about why she chose Lefie, why she was the best choice for diversity or her two skill tree investments of lightning and water, a reward for all her loyalty, there was only really one reason that mattered to Riza: keeping Lefie alive. The stronger Lefie was, the less at risk she’d be.

Preparations were swiftly made for the coming battle. Armour was commissioned for every party involved, although how much use it would be was little.

Some of Death’s magic items were handed out to those that needed them. He had discs that Andreya identified as cleansing stones. They essentially absorbed the pure essence from your body, making you immune to fog. No doubt, Death had picked them up after he had run away from Riza the first time.

They were handed out to Tanniya and Adewyn who lacked the skills to survive in fog.

There were a couple of messaging bells as well but without having their partners, they were useless. Riza had them destroyed, just in case the Empire could track them like a phone.

Death’s armour was magical as well. What little bits remained, anyway. The ones around his arms and legs were mostly intact.

Andreya couldn’t identify these but they brought them to a blacksmith and while he certainly appreciated the craftsmanship, he lacked the ability to know what enchantments were on them.

Simple durability and hardness ones were basically a given, but anything more than that was unknown.

Lefie found herself wearing them after a quick resizing by the blacksmith. Anything to keep her alive.

Death had no weapons on him. His spear was a manifestation of a high-level spearmanship skill, unfortunately.

Tanniya got herself a weapon in the form of some gauntlets. They were well-articulated with spikes on the knuckles. Apparently, the smith had produced weapons for brawlers in the past and her skills still worked even with a weapon but only if the weapon were specifically gauntlets or other form-fitting equipment of the hands.

Tiffany was levelled up and got her new skills in place as well. Nothing unusual; mostly just stuff that could further increase her range so she didn’t have to travel anywhere anymore and could stay in Rensenfeld in safety.

Tanniya spent some more of her skills as well, finally taking them to improve her throwing. With what they were facing, it seemed prudent to have a ranged option.

Before they knew it, they were ready. Riza was shivering in anticipation and fear.

The only other people joining them were actually Daven, Sanders, and Tiffany for communication. They were going to be far away, holed up somewhere underground, but if worse came to pass, they were there.

Hopping on horses and wagons, the group of seven rode off, back to Edderdorf.

A small camp was quickly set up where they’d be staying. The two men had continued riding off ahead, leaving the five of them there to set up.

They were a little ways away from Edderdorf, not that far from the tunnel Riza and Tanniya had found last time.

Tents and fire were set up and the sun was setting. Not wanting to fight in the dark, they’d have to wait until tomorrow.

Camped around a fire, sitting on boxes, lumps of dirt, or tree logs one of them had stolen from a nearby thicket, a warm, close atmosphere had developed.

“We could die tomorrow,” Tanniya said, lacking any bravado. “I’ve seen the tunnels that thing can make. It’s bigger than anything I can imagine. And we’re going to fight it.”

“They’re a pest,” Adewyn chimed in. “A lot of the elder greater demons, they’re one-of-a-kind. A random greater demon gets stronger than intended. But not the worm demons. They’re all over the Empire. All the same, ugly demons. It’s like the demons grow them specifically to be elder greater demons.”

“If they’re so big and so numerous, why haven’t we all just died out? They could destroy every city within just a couple of seconds, easily,” Meren said cynically.

“The demons aren’t logical. Cities are a no-go area for them. Even further West, with cities ten times the size of Rensenfeld, it’s completely safe from demons. There could be magic at play, something to do with the towers, I don’t know.”

The comment annoyed Riza. Demons aren’t logical? It went against her understanding. If anything, the demons were as logical and rational as humans. Even with the fog of war, she could tell that the demons were operating like a human enemy, rather than an animalistic one.

They knew the value of destroying cities to decimate the population. If their goal was to wipe out mankind, they would definitely target the cities first.

Adewyn’s response wasn’t that the worm demons weren’t a threat either. They just didn’t target cities, which meant there was a logical reason for that.

A reason the demons didn’t want to destroy every city and wipe out humanity.

As odd as it was, one idea got stuck in Riza’s head. The demons don’t want to wipe out humanity.

The demons were parasites. They had a symbiotic relationship with humanity; they needed humanoid demons to command intellect on par with humans, or so Riza had gathered.

They also needed humanoid demons to use skills. Both them and eye demons could utilise skills but not beast or greater demons.

Riza shook her head.

“The demons are logical. They need us. That’s why they don’t wipe out the cities, because they would die out as well,” She said.

“Their goal is to live? Only kill some humans for both humans and demons to live?” Lefie asked, and Riza just shrugged.

“Maybe.”

“No. That’s not a maybe. If the demons don’t want to wipe us out, then there’s no reason to fight. It’s like what you eventually want to implement in Rensenfeld; everyone that dies will be raised by you.

“If the demons did the same thing, taking everyone that died of accidents or old age or anything distinctly not about fighting, and turning them into demons, nobody would die fighting demons.” Meren enthused.

“Demons don’t age. There’s a few fuckers West that have been around for decades, harassing the Empire,” Adewyn added on.

“This entire war with demons is pointless!” Meren threw her hands up in the air while Riza chewed on her words.

Is that true? There doesn’t need to be a war with demons?

She juggled around numerous ideas in her head.

Human growth is exponential and will just rocket up once industrialisation hits. If the demon population stayed stagnant, humans would be clamouring for space and inevitably fighting a war against the demons for that space.

It’s what humans do best; wipe other species off the planet.

Unless, that’s already happened? There’s evidence of industrialisation and now humans are technological backwards from what they once were.

Did we have a war with the demons and lose? And now, they’re keeping our population in check?

But even that doesn’t make sense. If demons can live forever, once they have enough humanoid demons to manage their species, they can just make humans extinct. It’s far easier to get rid of the problem than keeping an eye on it for centuries.

Unless, they don’t live forever, or something else is killing off demons.

The first idea seems the most likely. They have a lifespan similar to humans so they need a constant supply of humans to survive as a species. Except, why go to war? Why let humans grow this strong?

The demons could wipe out the cities. They could restart humanity from the beginning. Control them like an authoritarian leader and wipe out any insurrection and have the humans worship the demons and be happy to sacrifice their bodies for humanity.

No war, no loss of demons to humans. They keep a steady supply. They’re intelligent enough to do that.

Maybe my assumption is wrong; the demons aren’t stronger than humans. If they’re fighting for their life, on the verge of annihilation, then it makes sense why they don’t restart humanity. Because they can’t.

Riza couldn’t reconcile that idea with the knowledge in her head. They can wipe out entire cities! No matter how strong a few individual huamns are, if ninety-nine percent of the population is gone, the humans die out. The demons are capable of that as long as they have elder greater demons, or even stronger.

It has to be a conscious decision to keep humans alive and in a war against them. So, what does that gain them?

Levels. It’s the only answer. Humans kill demons to increase their level caps and gain levels. Five humans can grow stronger at the expense of only one demon, as well.

Once the humans are strong enough, the demons kill them and turn them into even stronger demons.

But that even further reinforces the idea that demons are stronger than humans. And why do they need skills in addition to intelligence?

Riza groaned out loud. It was entirely too complicated for her to think about.

“Are you okay?” Lefie nudged her.

“I’m fine. Just thinking about people and demons, fighting. It’s complicated.”

“You bet it is. There’s a reason I stick to killing things and Andreya is the one who handles the politics,” Adewyn said, taking a drink from a bottle of alcohol.

“What’s up between you and Andreya?” Tanniya asked, interested. “You mention her a lot.”

“She’s my wife,” Adewyn answered with a firm look.

“Oh, that-oh. That’s… Okay,” Tanniya nodded. “Didn’t even know that was possible.”

“Yeah. There’s a reason I’m with Riza and not the Empire.”

“So, you-you’re overthrowing all of it? Completely changing the rules?” Tanniya asked Riza.

“That’s the goal,” Riza answered non-committedly.

“Fuck it. What have I got to lose? I’m already dead. Let’s overthrow the Empire!” Tanniya said, taking a large gulp of alcohol that she had requested be taken with them.

Constitution worked wonders for alcohol. You got the buzz but none of the hang-over. Unfortunately, for Riza, Meren, and Lefie, there wasn’t even a buzz, thanks to [Cleanse].

“To our deaths!”

The horizon glowed orange with the glow of the sunrise, peaking above the Western mountain range.

Riza was up bright and early, kicking awake everyone else and gently rousing Lefie from her slumber.

An [Inform] had already been sent to the Edderdorf humanoid demon, calling for the demon to appear near them, southwest of the village. Now, all they had to do was wait.

“Rise and shine, slug,” Riza said, crouched down beside the sleeping girl as she played with her hair.

“Why do you call her that?” Meren asked, walking over. She had already donned her armour and looked like a magnificent knight.

“It’s a name my sister called me. It’s nothing deep.”

Lefie eventually came to and got dressed in her piecemeal armour as well.

[Heal]s went around, making sure everyone was fed and hydrated and full of health and stamina.

Endless tinkering and tweaking of armour and weapons, as well as the sound of skills being tested and practised with could be heard.

Time ticked by in minutes, then an hour, then another hour.

And then, a rumbling. A shaking. Even the smallest vibrations startled them, and then it continued, growing stronger and stronger and more violent.

It was here.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and waited. Breathing was deep and calm, everyone as motionless as a statue. The vibrations of loose rocks and the shaking of branches of the trees were all that could be heard.

There! Riza’s mind lit up in sudden awareness like a flare had just been released.

The shaking grew to a tumultuous earthquake before, in the distant, a sudden eruption of rock appeared.

Stones and pebbles rained down as the largest demon Riza had ever seen shot up out of the ground.

It was long and white and ribbed. Its end was like a peeled back mouth, separated into eight flaps with what looked like millions of razor-sharp teeth.

Tens of thin tongues lashed out, picking out rocks and curling around them before pulling them into its giant, gaping maw.

The demon stretched and then flopped onto the ground, sending a strong enough earthquake to knock both Riza and Lefie onto their asses.

Even with just the section above ground, it was tens of metres long, and over ten metres in diameter.

“Fuck me, it’s massive!” Tanniya shouted.

The demon turned in their direction, the tongues gouging lines in the ground and throwing the dirt and grass into its gullet like an endlessly hungry boring machine. It was ravenous.

“We’re seriously fucking fighting that thing?” Tanniya asked, her volume hiding any anxiety.

Meren replied not with words but with an action. Ever since the ground had started shaking, she was ready.

Arm pulled back, she stepped forward with incredible speed, her arm whipping around and the spear flying through the air as fast as a speeding bullet.

A thunderous crack of air could be heard, followed by a deep, disturbing, guttural roar as the spear lodged itself inside the worm.

Meren looked around at everyone. “Well? Anyone going to help me?”