Chapter 133

Xain's eyes went wide as demon blood splattered on his body, but his minor shock wasn't due to the gore. "Zee!" he exclaimed in relief as Zee stood next to him, raising the curved sword in her left hand.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes scanning Xain and noticing his broken right arm. "How did this happen?" she exclaimed, panic in her voice.

"Don't worry about it," Xain said, rubbing the back of his head. "Are you okay? Last I saw you, you were mixed together with a razorhoove," he added, taking the subject off of him as he took a closer look at her.

Zee looked confused and shocked. "How did you—" she began, but her sentence was cut off by a screech. An imp flew towards them, and Zee turned to defend herself. Before the imp could get halfway, it was cleaved in half by The Fiend, who then turned to Zee and began making hand signs.

Zee stared at him, bewildered, as the hand signs went over her head. "He's asking why you're here and if you're okay," Xain explained, also staring at The Fiend.

"But why?" Xain asked, sounding confused as to why The Fiend would be worried for Zee.

"I'm okay, Grace helped me. The girl with white hair," Zee answered, pointing to the faint glow around her. Although The Fiend didn't understand how Zee's faint glow helped, he gave a thumbs up.

"I hope I don't have to tell you what that means," teased Xain with a grin.

"I know what that means!" Zee retorted, sounding insulted.

"While I am glad to see that you are mostly unharmed and that you both have not lost your abilities to banter, I would be grateful if you could help me right now," the demon said calmly, holding back an imp with its right hand while clashing blades with its morphed left hand against a drakorath.

Zee panicked momentarily, embarrassed at herself for losing focus. She quickly dashed toward the imp, which was held firmly by the demon and unable to react. With precise aim, she punctured the imp's stomach, causing it to let out a blood-curdling screech. She then ripped the curved blade upward, slicing through the imp's torso, cutting it cleanly in half, and freeing the demon from its grasp.1

The demon morphed its right hand into a drill, the mechanism whirling to life. It plunged the drill into the chest of the drakorath, easily penetrating the reptilian demon's scales. The drakorath let out a final, gurgling roar as the drill shredded its insides.

"Thank you," said the demon as it morphed its hand back to its original form, pulling it out of the drakorath's lifeless body.

"You're welcome," Zee replied with a smile, but then she paused, realizing something. "Wait a minute?" she muttered, looking the demon up and down. "When did you—how did you—why are you here?" she asked, confusion written all over her face.

"Almost an hour ago. Larkin drove me here. And I thought you needed help, while also having some personal reasons," the demon replied calmly, addressing each of her inquiries.

"What about the village?" a voice called out. They turned to see Elanor, who addressed the demon with a quiver in his voice. "If you and Grace are here, who's protecting the village?"

The demon walked up to Elanor and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Do not worry. While there is currently no one protecting the village, you have my word that no one will harm it, not during this invasion and definitely not after what I did to the few mercenaries that remained stationed around Wolfdale," it said, giving a small, unsettling smile. The expression was unnerving, as the demon was still getting used to having a face. Meanwhile, *Who?* Zee wondered, looking at Elanor.

Suddenly, loud sounds echoed in the distance. Everyone turned toward the source, beyond the front gates of the estate, where the demons had been flying away. "Are those gunshots?" Xain muttered aloud, straining to hear more.

Mar smashed the head of an imp before also turning to the direction of the sounds. *Is that reinforcements?* he wondered. *But who could it be? None of the military of any country could reach here in such a short time. Could it be some of the mercenaries?* He didn't have time to ponder this as more demons spewed from the portal, a never-ending tidal wave that showed no signs of stopping. No matter how much they fought, the demons just kept coming.

"I'm so tired," Mincs complained, letting out a weary sigh. Even her usual cheerful demeanor was beginning to fade.

Even extended his arm and shot out a mana blast, the beam slicing through five demons, halving them instantly. He fell to the ground, exhaustion overtaking him. "Fuck, I'm out," he muttered, sweating and panting, his breath misty white just from sheer exhaustion.

"Hey, while I am having fun fighting them, do these guys ever stop?" Dash asked, a bit aloof as he eyed the new wave of demons approaching.

"Who's that?" asked Zee, pointing at Dash.

The demon answered The Wandering Calamity's question. "As long as the summoner is alive, the portal won't close," it explained.

"I see..." Dash trailed off before palming his fist. "I don't get it!" he exclaimed.

"That's Dash Ardent, you know, The Wandering Calamity?" whispered Xain to Zee, who responded with a surprised "Ehhhhhh?"

Suddenly, from within the mansion, a loud crash was heard. One of the front windows shattered, sending shards of glass and debris flying. A bloodied young girl in a maid uniform was thrown through it, her body hitting the ground with a sickening thud. She lay there, barely conscious and struggling to move.

"That's the girl I saw while I was inside the mansion," Zee remarked, her eyes widening as she recognized the maid as they all saw Grace confidently walk out of the broken window frame.

"Can't run away out here, can you?" Grace mocked, looking down at the maid who was barely clinging to consciousness.

Xain's eyes widened as he saw this. "Why is she..." he stopped mid-sentence as another figure emerged from the mansion. A very tired-looking man wearing a worn brown suit.

"Verandez," the demon said, its voice heavy with recognition. Xain and Zee's eyes went wide with shock.

"That's Verandez Rasanto? The guy we've been looking for?" Xain muttered, realizing that the person they had come to stop was finally within their reach.