14 Creature From Hell

The captain and the engineer emerged from the earth at that time.

They threw the two rebreather kits onto the ground, looking very out of breath. The extra rebreather was from the escape pod.

The reason it took them longer than expected was the loss of direction. When Jack came down, he relied on gravity to do most of the work. When the two tried to go up, however, knowing where was up and which direction was down became a frightening hard task.

There were countless holes dug by the two underground to test where the saliva flowed.

However, seeing sunlight after 6 hours and a half, the two had almost forgotten all the fear and panic they felt when they were trying to navigate the dirt.

They looked at each other. Emma laughed, while Jack grinned brightly.

"So, this is… why soil diving… isn't an Olympic sport." Jack still spared some energy to comment while hyperventilating like a dog in heat.

"If it is, sir, you're going to… absolutely ace it." Emma replied, with much difficulty, lying flat on the ground.

As she was saying that, the silhouette of the little sister could be seen running towards them. She looked… panicking?

"Sister Emma, captain sir!" Naomi did not leave them any time to rest. She told the two what happened.

"Sir, we have to save her! Please give permission!"

Emma closed her eyes. Jack shook his head. The appropriate response was self-evident.

"We leave this place." Jack commanded as he tried to stand up.

"But doctor Emily…"

"She sacrificed to save us. You know, don't you?"

Naomi knew. She just refused to acknowledge it to the point where she forgot about it.

The doctor was still donning the dark gas tank behind her back.

A planet chitaurians could live on would have a dark red atmosphere. One look at the scene around them could reveal that this wasn't a chitaurian habitat.

She was living on borrowed time.

Something finally broke inside Naomi.

"I understand. Where are we heading, sir?" It was a clear, emotionless voice.

Emma looked at Naomi wide-eyed as Jack raised an eyebrow. The captain put his dirty hand through the disheveled long, muddy blond hair and scratched his head. He then pointed at the many human footprints on the ground several meters from where he was sitting.

"We go to where they came from."

***

I kept on running, occasionally let them see me so that they would give chase.

The people chasing me were wearing peculiar protections that looked like those I had seen from a human history book. These were humans of an ancient civilization. What did they call it?... Medieval?

I had to lead them far away before my time runs out.

I decided to stop and battle them a bit. Humans don't like it when things go easy. They would get suspicious.

I chose a decent spot with few trees. So that they could unmistakably observe me. So they could fear my appearance and detest me.

I would probably have to get hit a few times to rouse their spirits.

***

The grotesque demon stopped running. It turned and confronted us. I ordered my soldiers to stop as well.

The hands holding the crossbows were shaking. I didn't blame them. My hand holding the reins was likewise shaking and sweating.

A demon. It was a genuine demon!

That metal-armed witch was actually a demon in disguise. Bless us, o the Source of holy power! This was the true form of a witch!

I had only seen the illustration of a demon in the scripture. Huge, black body. Two sharp horn on their head. Ferocious red eyes. Long, pointed claws that looked ready to dig into flesh.

But the drawing on the old dusty book never gave me much impression. I thought it was a legend. I thought a creature from hell wouldn't grip its claws around my neck and bring me back with it.

It took a gander at us. I unwittingly diverted my eyes away. I felt like I had looked into the abyss.

It bared its fangs. It looked ready to fight.

The soldiers I had sent to call for reinforcements weren't back yet. Only us with the demon now.

O the holy Source, please give us power.

"Arrows loose!" I shouted.

Steel tips and feathers rained at the demon. It jumped. I realized it was jumping towards us. "Hiiiiiii". An unrecognizable sound came from my vocal cords.

I tumbled off my steed, dragged the captive witch with me. No, not a witch. What I had in hand was another demon, its comrade.

The demon jumped past me and arrived in the midst of the panicking soldiers. It swiped its claws at those around. The soldiers tried to fire arrows at it. However, it was too fast. Friendly fires further escalated the situation.

The demon… it was not slaughtering anybody. It left scratches on everyone it touched, but none were fatal.

Was it tainting the soldiers with its evil spirit control like those beasts? Was it recruiting my people into its rank?

No, I would not let my soldiers join the rank of the devil.

"Soldiers! Kill those the demon has touched! If you are touched by the demon, commit suicide. The Source will perceive your sincerity and grant you the path to the Domain!"

"Men, be brave and free yourself from the clutch of devils!"

My voice resounded. The battlefield became silent for a brief instant.

Soldiers pointed their crossbow at each other. Some pointed at themselves. Those without crossbows pulled out their dagger and sword. They either lifted the weapon to their neck or put its tip near their heart.

"Never surrender to the devils!"

"Uuuooooo!"

"Argh!"

"May the Source travel with you in your departure! And mine!"

…

The devout soldiers fell one after another. The demon stopped.

It looked around, seemingly confused.

Hah, I had thwarted your plan, creature from damnation!

But I would not simply remain here and let you kill my soldiers!

As I grabbed the captive demon on the ground, I released the valve on my mana tank and used the Moving Stone to levitate a sword on top of the demon in my grasp.

"Stay your hands, demon! Or I will kill your kind!"