Saying so near the end, he glanced at the heroes whilst surrounding his arm around the saintess' shoulders.

  “What?” Kylii spoke back instantly, all of the heroes festering bad looks. “Why do you have to be like that? No, you are a true spear, no matter what others say.” She said, the others following her reactions. However, before they could cut in to support her, the man interrupted instead.

  “I’m not though, am I? I don’t have anything remotely close to the mark. Hell, the only power I have helps me see more of the battlefield. What sort of advantage is that?” He asked, snapping out of the girl’s grasp before slowly pacing off past the heroes.

  “You’re one of the empire’s best warriors, it’s the reason we chose you. Your strength is close to ours, even when we use our glyphs, Lutiel!” Kylli increasingly became louder, exclaiming at the end as they saw him heading towards the tents they had set up. Similarly to her, the heroes glanced away at his back.

  Yet, with awry faces, they watched as he slowed down for a moment. Turning slightly to the side, just so he could see them, his lips parted again, “Even if I am, it doesn’t matter. I have long since hit my ceiling. Yet you? I can see you growing every day,” he spoke with dejected eyes, only prolonging his stare around them before seeing their bitter expressions.

  Even Sheila, she no longer carried her mellow radiance, turning rather grudging at his words.

  With a faint sigh, he spoke yet again. “I’m sorry. I’m tired from fighting that bastard. Let’s just make dinner already, okay?” He asked the party, receiving nods after a while of waiting.

  Getting closer to the man eventually as he waited for them, they slowly made their way through the sparse forest, finally arriving near the campsite where six large tents were sprawled out, all pale in contrast. Scattered out to not make it easy for the enemy, in the very middle stood a circle made of rocks.

  Immediately, it lit up as they arrived, the skies above turning into a dull murkiness. A moon visited the night, illuminating their way through the lands on top of the fire that briskly gnawed away at the wood.

  All five of them sat around the campfire, watching as the Byrde periodically rotated the pig above the harsh flames, its liquidated fats drizzling down before bursting into further blaze. Brownish in color, the animal seemed almost ready, however, when Daine tried to nibble out a piece with her dagger, the man’s deep glare prompted her to step back suddenly.

  “Sorry, okay? I didn’t think it would take so long,” the girl said, only for her eyes to gleam out as he shook his head.

  “That’s not what I meant. Use a clean knife, not the one you use for killing demons,” he said, only for the girl to suddenly freeze in place. She quickly moved her free hand, scratching her head with an abashed look.

  “Right, sorry, hehe,” she giggled, following the rest of her companions in taking parts of the pig. Cutting away the whole leg for herself, she stared it down with voracious eyes, licking her lips before sinking the teeth in the roasted skin.

  Cutting through the cooked flesh, she pulled the leg away from herself, at the same time tearing the fatty skin apart, left in her mouth before she closed her eyes. “Mhm,” groaning in satisfaction whilst chewing on the piece, the dagger hero couldn’t help but take another bite, even before she had finished the first.

  Unlike her beastly ways, the others slowly enjoyed the meat, in small pieces at a time, as well as on round pieces of bread they took directly from the hot coals. Cracking them open, steam began to escape from the middle. Swiftly catching the pig’s juices with the crumb, they began quickly eating the pig, Lutiel seeing as half of it disappeared within a moment.

  He no longer ate, simply sitting by the campfire to warm himself through the night, the other heroes and the saintess following his approach, at the same time conversing with each other.

  “How are you liking it so far?” Kylli suddenly asked, a smile sprawled across her face as she looked ahead at his face. “I’m sure it’s better than being tied down to the Empire,” the girl added quickly, making him chuckle slightly.

  “Mhm,” he hummed whilst nodding. “Fighting against the demons on the front lines every day makes life seem a bit dreary, even if it’s with the weakest ones.”

  “Are you saying you like being on the verge of death more? Being a hero isn’t any easier.” She turned into a skewed grin, perplexed somewhat.

  “No,” he replied swiftly with a shake of his head. “I’m not stuck on the battlefield here. I can at least walk around the world with you guys,” his soft voice nestled in the ears of them all, the party’s gaze lingering on him before Sheila finally struck with her own words.

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  “That’s good. I hated it when the church gave you off to the Emperor, only to be used as a war tool for five years straight. We couldn’t see each other even once,” she said, clutching her hands against her skirt whilst looking down at the crackling fire.

  Glancing at the girl for a while, his face contorted faintly, emerging a sorrowful expression. “I had to, regardless. The demons would overtake the kingdoms otherwise,” the man spoke quietly, settling solemnity across the heroes.

  “You did what you were supposed to, Lutiel. You should be proud of that. However, you have a different priority to uphold now, even if the goal is the same in the end,” with a large mug of foamy beer in his right hand, Byrde spoke up.

  As the hero attained the man’s attention swiftly, he simply continued. “We have to hinder their strengths by killing the weakest of their leaders, which is none other than Magon. One by one, we will eradicate the demons steadily until they’re all gone.”

  “Yeah,” Daine added to his words briskly, raising a cup of her own towards the fire before the others followed on, except for the saintess, who wasn’t drinking. “To humanity’s rest,” she said loudly, her words repeated quickly.

  “To humanity’s rest,” all of the heroes exclaimed, including the saintess, right before they drank their woes away.

  Slowly, Lutiel staggered through his steps as they had descended deep into the night. No longer had the campfire lightened their way forward, only the moon easing his path. Staring ahead of him through the hazy vision, he parted his tent’s entrance, vehemently falling down onto the cloth on the floor. Lying on his stomach whilst closing his eyes, the man easily parted off into the distant dreams.

  Lingering around in the darkness however, his eyes opened abruptly, searching frantically through the murky space whilst hearing the agonal screams. How eyebrows furrowed after quickly dressing up into his leather armor. Putting on the metal plates recklessly, Lutiel swiftly grabbed his spear before running outside of the tent, his jaw clenched firmly.

  Albeit, any of his actions stopped immediately. Glancing ahead of himself, scattering his sight through the sparse branches around the forest, he watched the dull skies take on a red hue, the moon itself turning bloody red.

  The hellish scape of strident screams reverberated through his ears, his head barely not splitting apart. Nevertheless, despite standing still for a moment, it was brief. A quick glance around told him all he needed to understand. Not one other hero was in the camp, so he quickly started running, delving into the sounds more and more before finally escaping the forest.

  A flat plain of dark red uncovered its shadows, making the man witness its horrors. The heroes kept on fighting through the demonic flesh, standing in the middle of hundreds of enemies.

  The corpses kept piling on, but the demons never seemed to end. Although his eyes quivered at the sight, Lutiel briskly clenched his jaw tight, firmly grasping the spear in his right hand before running off towards his team.

  Without any words, the first set of demons eased off from the heroes, parting to target the incoming man. Yet, just as they got into his range, the spear shattered the winds apart, cutting through their necks before leaving heads to roll through the dirt.

  With fully opened eyes, Lutiel’s gaze scattered through the next demons running straight at him, peering at them with barely any emotions. His spear slashed through the space once again, cutting down the necks of the monsters before getting closer to his team.

  “I’m here!” He screamed after a few minutes, watching as the blood started to scatter through the fields, tainting the grass and bare soil crimson.

  Despite his words however, the heroes simply nodded in acknowledgement, fighting on through the slowly dissipating number of demons.

  “Ugh,” groaning as he slowly walked through the corpses, Lutiel’s body became scattered with small wounds, however, he released a calm breath after seeing the sparse appearance of creatures around them.

  Of course, some still run at him, but not nearly in the same amount. Thrusting ahead of him, he swiftly jerked the spear away from the head of a demon he had just killed.

  His eyes kept at the way ahead of him, glancing at a certain girl standing by with her gleaming staff. Battling through the red fog with her sapphire gem, Sheila suddenly turned to her left, her eyes widening into a light smile as she watched Lutiel step closer.

  “Are you okay? You can rest now, you know? Eh?” Her voice trailed off near the end, watching Lutiel’s shaking eyes before glancing down at the spear he had embedded into her stomach.

  Suddenly, the man peered into what he had just done, his eyes widening before the face froze over completely. “Huh?” He muttered elusively, quickly talking to the girl. “Sheila! I didn’t do it, please believe me! I couldn’t move!” He tried to persuade the saintess, however, the quivering lips of hers only made him stop, watching as blood started to drip down from them towards the ground.

  Yet, as her lips parted, no voice came out, stifled out as his eyelids finally opened up. Staring at the pale ceiling ahead of him, he could only witness its murky embrace. The chest heaved uncontrollably, his nose releasing harsh sounds to accompany his quick heart.

  Glistening all around, the droplets gathered on his forehead swiftly traveled down, only to be caught by his hairs. Not abating in the slightest, Lutiel’s breath had overtaken the room wholly, any of the bed’s rustles drowning away under the quick respires.

  The somewhat bloodshot eyes didn’t want to part away from the ceiling, for countless of his fast breaths. Only beginning to look around as his chest finally eased up, the man still didn’t move away from the duvet. ‘You’re telling me she’s still alive? And that she made all of you hate me? How can I believe that? I don’t understand,’ he muttered in his head softly.