Humanity

Year 210,

After the forces of the Demon Lord Astaroth marched towards the fertile lands of Asmotia. Darkness slowly eats away the lands that used to be full of life.

Every time the Demon Lord's forces march, the earth shakes and wails in pain. Trees and everything that has life die.

The people, nobles, and common people alike are killed without mercy. Dead bodies pile after one another, a few thousand men faced death on the first year that the Demon Lord's forces started to move and thousands more are lost in the following years.

With the world facing such a threat. The organization called Blight sends out their best warriors known as Garnan, a group consisting of 9 individuals with special abilities to save the world from the threat of the Demon Lord.

Garnan easily defeated the Demon Lord's forces and slowly force them to retreat and regroup. Garnan is able to do what the various kingdoms and countless armies couldn't do alone.

And because of this, they earned the title of heroes. And the people place their faiths on the new group of people after losing their will to live after the demons attacked them.

Inside the forest of Dorthan, (A land that the demons have seized)

"ACK!"

"KEEEUUK!"

TAK! TAK! TAK! TAK!

"Flank them! Don't let them get away! These demon scums must die tonight!" a man holding a glowing sword ordered as his comrades strikes down the demons that were trying to get away.

SLASH! FWOOSH!

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

"There's only a few of them remained here. I think they have already retreated a few days ago, Devian." A young man holding an intricately designed spear with a glowing blade said after scouting the area.

"That's what I thought as well. Usually, all of them would start swarming around us, but that did not happen. Those cowards run away after they heard about our advance." Devian yells out in frustration.

They needed to clear the forces of the Demon Lord in the forest of Dorthan and shed their numbers as much as they could but with their current situation, it is impossible.

The young man holding a spear wanders around the area when a body falls from the sky and he instantly strikes the body as a reflex.

"Your reaction time is ridiculous no matter how many times I see it, Blake." A young woman floating in the air said with a smile.

"What are you talking about? That surprised me that's why I reacted like that! Geez!" he responded in annoyance.

The young lady responded with a chuckle and just forgets about it and sits comfortably on a half-burnt chair.

"When are we going back? This place is creepy and weird. I don't want to be here anymore." It was not only her, the others also wants to rest as well.

They have been fighting for three days straight and they have not gotten a bath since then, by this time all of them are itching to have a good rest and a good bath.

"I so want to have a good sleep tonight." Someone with a bow and arrow shares his thoughts as well. Their leader, Devian listens to their complaints intently, and seeing that there are no other enemies in sight, he also finds it a good thing to rest.

"Let's go back. We indeed need to rest. We cannot go on like this, especially when the enemies have retreated." He pointed out.

Garnan is composed of 4 ladies and 5 guys. Each with their own specialty.

*Devian is a swordsman and uses fire magic.

*Arche is an archer who uses wind magic to enhance his accuracy even more.

*Rona(Female) is a mage that uses magic to her advantage on the battlefield.

*Blake is a weapon specialist that mainly uses weapons with a long-range as his weapon of choice(Spear, Lance, Javelin, Warhammers, Halberd, and so on.)

*Nana(Female) is the enchanter, she provides support for her comrades.

*Shelly(Female) is the heart of their group, the healer.

*Franz is a dual wielder, he uses daggers as his weapon of choice and uses magic that allows him to move swiftly.

*Ralph has the largest build out of all of them, his weapon of choice is a large shield and a hammer. He has the attribute of earth.

*Yna is the barrier master and protects everyone in their group from danger. She uses a staff to cast her spells.

As they all agreed to leave the forest and return to the recaptured town where they can rest, Blake realized that all the demons that they have killed are unarmed.

None of them have any weapons with them but bags of rotting vegetables. He inspects all of the bodies and they all carry the same things. "They are unarmed?" he asks himself and starts to doubt if they are doing the right thing.

"I heard from other survivors that some demons spared them by letting them go. I personally believe that it was bogus but if a lot of them claim the same thing, wouldn't that register as the truth?"

Whilst inspecting the body of a particular demon who died while leaning towards a barrel's lid and then he notice something odd about the demon's position. "Why does it look like this demon is protecting something?" he moved the body and to his shock, young demons are hiding inside the barrel, shaking from fear.

"Her-" Blake sees the fear on the demons' faces as he was about to call his comrades about his findings but something stopped him. As if an invisible force that cannot understand prevented him from saying anything.

It is guilt. After slaying hundreds of demons, they are so blinded by anger and rage for what the demons had done to their people that they forget before they are called as heroes, they were humans.

And just like humans, demons have feelings as well. For the first time, Blake does something that he did not expect to do. He covers the lid with a cloth and walks away.

"What was that, Blake?" Devian asks but he hides the fact that he found demons inside the barrel and lies. "Nothing, I thought you left me behind."

Their group return to the town and see that the people had already returned to their houses. They are welcomed warmly by the people as they have always been.

They had some rest and be merry to celebrate their victory over the demons in the area. While his comrades get intimate with each other inside their rooms, Blake starts thinking about his thoughts and how come he had done something against their purpose.

"Was that the right thing to do?" he asks himself that question.

A few hours later and the intimate sounds of his comrades died down. They are done with their orgy, it is safe for him to walk inside.

And right after entering, he sees the naked bodies of his comrades on top of one another. He ignores it all and went straight to his bed.

"Why don't you join us next time? Do you not want lust after our bodies?" Rona sits on his bed flaunting her voluptuous figure but Blake just ignores her.

"I see dead bodies laying on the ground for a long time. How can I lust after a body that I have seen countless times? I have slain demons with the same body as yours, I have no right to lust over such bodies."

After that, Blake covers himself with a blanket and slept knowing that she will stop pestering him after their brief exchange.

The next day, they went back to the forest to check if the demons have returned and to their disappointment, no demons are in sight.

Blake also hoped that the young demons that he spared managed to leave the forest safely, he went to look for the barrel only to see a gruesome sight.

The barrel has been blown to bits along with the corpse of the young demons scattered everywhere. "What in the world happened?" he asks himself.

He then notice a shimmering light floating above the tree, at that moment, Blake realized what happened. "Rona. She did this."