Of Demons and Gods
Heirloc woke up in the lodge room, the smell of coffee coming through the window made the man get up quickly from the bed and put his clothes. He took his sword and slowly walked over to the desk, he left the key to the room there.
He ate the breakfast and left. When he got outside he looked back and took a good look at the building. The old house made of wood was not the best hostel he had been, but it was not the worst, not that it was something worthy of praise. After five days living in the city of Kuga the black man had already become used to the familiar atmosphere of the inn and its employees. Today he was leaving early again, but this time he may never come back.
After these days living in the city Heirloc had gathered all the information he could about the demon that terrorized the citizens. The creature lived in a cave in the mountains that where on the border of the Forbidden Lands. Weekly the citizens left tributes in front of the cave entrance, but each passing day became more difficult to raise all the tributes the demon asked.
The black man was slowly walking along the dirt roads of the city and passing by the houses of the residents he had met in recent days. The terror that the devil's presence had on them was obvious, but many of them still remained in the city. Heirloc wondered why they did not just abandon everything and start over somewhere else, living on this oppression was really the best life they could have? Or was it the fear of having to start over somewhere else that prevented them from leaving?
Anyway, he planned to release them of this affliction today. He was not a hero or a saint, he was anything but that. What mattered to him was to become one of the Kings of Battle and follow the footsteps of his twin brother, his biggest rival, which had already acquired the position last year after killing one of the Kings.
Heirloc left the town and continued walking until the foot of the mountain. Once there he stopped and took from his bag a piece of dried meat and a canteen containing whisky. The man sat down to eat and prepare to walk the two kilometers up the mountain. It would be the first time that he would face a demon, actually it would be the first time that he would see one.
Although one of his specializations in the College had been the hunter, that was all the experience he had in fighting with demons. And this demon who terrorized Kuga was especially problematic, his magic gave it a very big advantage. But if there was any human on the continent that could defeat him, that person was Heirloc.
The skill he had received when he made a connection with a celestial beast gave him the ability to feel everything around him for a ten meters radio. Combining this power with his already high physical and battle capabilities made the black man confident in his victory. He had already planned how to fight this demon, all he needed to do was execute his plan and he would not have major difficulties.
After finishing eating, he opened his canteen and took two sips of whisky. But the feeling that his throat was dry did not pass. The man got up and began to walk. The trail that would lead him to the cave was full of trees, but even under their shadows the heat was still noticeable. Some animals moved in the bushes nearby making them shake, but Heirloc was too concentrated to give them attention.
A few minutes passed, and he could finally see a clearing in front, and on the other side of it a cave. He had arrived. Heirloc walked to the center of the clearing and dropped the bag he was carrying.
"This is a warning to the demon who lives inside this cave. Today is the day you die and the name of the one who will cut your head and claim the reward is Heirloc Finit" he shouted toward the cave.
A few seconds of silence went by. Then Heirloc saw a pair of red eyes and heard footsteps coming towards him. From inside the cave came a purple body creature that had humanoid form. From the waist down, it resembled a monkey and the top part of his body resembled a human. Its trunk was muscular, and his head had two horns in circular shape like a goat. On his back were two wings that had no feathers, like those of a bat. He carried in his right hand a sword that had a strange blue glow that formed a little aura around the blade, Heirloc had heard about such weapons, it was a sword made by Elders!
"Another foolish human. Do not worry I will kill you quickly as I did to the others" said the creature in a hoarse voice.
Then around his hands a little blue circle graduated as he said a few words in a language already forgotten. And Heirloc's world went dark. It was just like the survivor had said, in an instant he could no longer see, hear and smell nothing. All he could do was feel his body, but for Heirloc that was enough.
Using his Lineage, he felt that the demon had opened his wings and was flying. Suddenly the demon came flying at full speed toward the man with his sword in front of him wanting to penetrate Heirloc's torso. At the last second Heirloc dodged the attack with a step to the side and lowering his body he attacked with his sword on the demon's shoulder. The impact was so strong that the demon's arm was torn from his body.
'Damn, I planned to kill him in single stroke. Now I've lost the surprise factor. His fucking body was much tougher than I expected. Shit, this attack was supposed to be enough to cut it in half and I could just cut an arm' thought Heirloc lamenting the lost opportunity.
The demon still could not believe the human had dodged his attack and even managed to cut his arm off on a counter attack. Was his magic not working? No that was impossible, there had to be another explanation. But a stroke of luck would not have such a strong effect as well. Regardless of the reason he would slowly kill that human and would make him suffer.
"You could have kept quiet and just die with that attack. But now I will make sure to torture you, you insolent human" said the enraged demon.
Again, it prepared for the attack, but this time it flew to Heirloc cautiously and began to strike blows in sequence with his sword. Heirloc had no other option but to dodge, the demon's attacks were very fast and passed close to him. The man did not have a second's rest. The demon's sword emitted a cold air, Heirloc could feel the cold just by it passing close to his body. He did not want to imagine what would happen if he was hit by a stroke.
But Heirloc still had a plan B, he was ready to the possibility of his first attack failing. Thanks to the specialization classes at the College he understood a lot about the physiology of demons. From his pocket he pulled out a handful of a powder that he had left separated for this. It was gold dust even if Heirloc regretted spending so much money, but the fact that gold serve as poison to the demons would be the difference between life and death for him.
Heirloc finally changed his strategy and blocked one of the demon's attacks. The impact strength made his whole-body tremble and the noise that came from his sword indicated that it had cracked. Fighting the lethargic state that his body was after impact, Heirloc stuck his hand into the hole where previously the left arm of the demon previously was and released all the gold powder and jumped back.
The demon fell to the ground and began to struggle. After a few agonizing minutes the demon finally died. At that moment Heirloc finally regained his senses. Looking around he saw the body of the demon and a blue pool of blood that continued to increase thanks to the blood that flowed through all the creature holes.
When looking at his sword he saw the blade really had cracked after blocking the last attack. The man walked over to the body of the creature and picked the sword the demon used. The blue glow that the blade had along with the sensation of cold that he felt made him sure it was a weapon made by the Elders.
"What a fight huh, never had I thought a human could defeat that demon by himself. I came here because of the rumors I had heard, thinking I was going to have a little fun, but you killed him before me. You must have some special power to be able to defeat him without your senses. Let me guess, you have the Faun Lineage and made the connection with a Hydra"
Heirloc was startled by the voice and turned his sword pointing to the direction from which the voice came. He then saw a hooded man walking towards him. A few more steps and the hooded man would come in the range of Heirloc's Lineage and he would be able to identify him. As soon as the man entered Heirloc's ability radius he pulled the hood. The man had long blond hair in a ponytail, green eyes, his face possessed delicate features and his ears were large and pointed.
"And what is a God doing here?" Heirloc asked without lowering the sword.
"Did you notice? So, I have no reason to hide" the man said as he took a talisman from inside his clothes, the shape of the head of a dragon made of jade with a gold chain showed that Heirloc's hunch was correct. "Do not worry, I only came here because I was bored and thought it would be fun to fight a demon. Since you've defeated him you will have to take on his role" said the God as he laughed.
In an instant the God drew two swords and ran toward Heirloc. His attacks were faster than anything Heirloc had ever seen. The man tried to defend himself, but he received a cut on his arm before he could retreat.
"You managed to survive!? Apparently, I have to take this fight seriously" said the astonished God. "Do not disappoint me" he added as he ran.
Heirloc tried to focus all his energies on defending himself, but his opponent was stronger than him in every physical aspect. In just under a minute Heirloc sword had been thrown away after the impact of a blow. Then the God struck him on the head with the blunt part of the blade of his sword, which caused Heirloc to fall on the floor. The God gave Heirloc a resigned look and sheathed his swords as he walked out of the clearing.
"You will not kill me?" asked Heirloc while trying to stay awake. The God stopped and stood still with his back to the man.
"Why would I do that? Being weak is not enough reason for me to kill you" he said.
"Are all the Gods as strong as you" asked Heirloc as his vision darkened.
"Let's say I'm a special case" he said as he walked away, with his hazy eyes Heirloc barely managed to notice that the back of his cape had the symbol of an eye inside a triangle.
Heirloc's body lost all its strength and he fainted.
***********
"And what happened after you woke up?" asked Cain.
"When I woke up it was already night and my head hurt a lot. I searched for the sword, went to the body of the demon and cut his head off to take as evidence of my actions. When I arrived in the city I was acclaimed by the residents and before long been recognized as one of the Kings of Battle "said the man.
"But who was that God, and why he left you alive?" Cain asked puzzled.
"This answer I do not know, to this day I ask myself that. That was the only time I saw him. Well it's late and you must get up early tomorrow to do your test. Let's go to the beds" said Heirloc while he rose from the chair.
"Wait, and the sword of the Elders? Do you still have it?" Cain asked, his eyes shining.
"I have. It is stored in the room where we store the weapons, let's go and I'll show it to you" the man said.
The two went up to the first floor of the house and went to the room where Heirloc kept their weapons, inside the man took a key from his pocket and opened the only chest in the room. From inside the chest he took a wooden box and as he opened it the air in the room began to get colder. Cain investigated the box excitedly and saw the sword, it really gave off a blue glow and the blade had several runes written in it, just like the books about the Elders said.
"Now go to sleep. You have a test tomorrow" Heirloc said closing the box and putting it back into the chest.
Cain went to his bedroom and went to the bed. The boy could not sleep even a second the whole night, he could not stop thinking about the story that Heirloc had told him.