The Guardian

After a couple more minutes, the guard came back with a crystal that emitted a white hue in his hand. Gruf explained that this artifact granted entry to the city and people outside would be blown away if they even dared try to enter without it. The crystal is nominative, meaning only the person it was designated to can use it.

— What about my curse? asked Alpha to the merchant.

— Well, people's pets and other lesser companions are automatically granted entry if the owner was given the crystal. But then again, your case is really specific.

The guard asked Alpha to get out so he could officially hand him the bright stone. However, as the crystal was about to touch Alpha's hand, an explosion almost hit them but still blew them away. The authorization crystal fell on the ground while Alpha successfully protected the guard at the last second. Even so, Alpha still sustained some damage and his health significantly dropped by a whole third. While he was taken by surprise, Dave thought that his friend took way too much damage. He looked around to identify the origin of the attack. It came from the sky. A shadow stood between them and the last rays of the sunset. It had bats' wings, goats' horns on its head, predators' claws adorned on its hands, its skin was pure cold white and it was wearing elegant and sophisticated clothes. There was no doubt to Dave, he designed them himself. This was a [Noble_Demon], a high class monster that players could only encounter in the last dungeon: the Demon Lord's Domain.

Dave just stood there, not moving. It was the first time since he came into this world that he actually felt fear. And it was not baseless. The demon stared at him directly with his bright red eyes. He could see him. And he smiled at him. A cold sweat rolled down on Dave's spine. He could not believe that he could physically feel anything right until this point in time. "Who was this demon? And what was he doing here?" pondered Dave in his mind. Then the demon slowly and yet gracefully came down. He walked while ignoring everything around him: the average people were running away, the adventurers and guards alike were starting to regroup from a safe distance, and an emergency alert was echoing through the whole town. And yet he just smiled and walked toward the crystal. As he was about to pick it up, a hand that came from thin air grabbed his wrist and stopped him in his tracks. The demon stopped and looked above him. If a mountain could be a person, then the man that grabbed him would perfectly embody this concept. A tall and large muscular frame trapped in a huge chunk of steel that he wore as an armor. Guards and adventurers alike were cheering for him: the captain of the royal guard: Hans Hank Hernandez.

— Would you please let go of me? asked the demon politely. I do not wish more mana than necessary. I still have a long way home, you know?

The man called Hans grunted as a form of reply. Then a blond woman with a voluptuous body and in provocative clothes showed up from the militia's quarters. Everyone was stunned by her beauty as they let her go through until she stood by the gate, leaving some distance between her, the captain and the demon. She coughed a bit to clear out her throat and then declared:

— Heyyy! My name is Merlinda! Not Melinda, but Me-R-linda! And I am the captain's official translator. Nice to meet you, demon.

— It is all my pleasure, m'lady. My name is Kormwel. However, can you please tell this brute to relinquish me before I make a fool out of him in front of his men?

— Hm? Oh, there seems to be a misunderstanding here! The captain is able to understand you, but due to his [unique] condition... He lost his ability to properly speak.

— Hrmph! grunted Hans.

— I imagine he was speaking to my person then? asked Kormwel.

— Exactly, said Merlinda. He told you to go to hell. Well... these aren't his exact words, but-

— But a fine lady such as yourself should not be burdened to use the vile words that come from
the foul mouth of this crude man- continued the demon before getting interrupted himself.
An iron fist swiftly lodged itself into the demon's jawline. He was not able to dodge the hit as Hans was still holding him firmly into place.

— You... Brute! You leave me no other choice but to-

He got struck once again and the Captain was still not willing to let go of him. Kormwel realized that his words were wasted on him and decided to erase from existence this huge chunk of meat that served as the elite of the royal guard. With his other free hand, he blasted a high level fire spell [fire_cone8] directly at his face. Multiple men and women got caught in the attack, screaming in agony while the demon smirked. As he was about to reach for the crystal once more, he noticed that his hand was still in the captain's grip.

— Magic is useless against him, he has near immunity to it, explained Merlinda.

— What about this?! And that! And what if I had some of that?! Huh?! Huh?! shouted the demon as he casted multiple types of high level offensive magic.

Kormwel cast every spell he could think of at the captain. It was all in vain as he still held onto his wrist, not showing any signs of letting go. The demon started to panic and in an act of desperation, he broke his own arm before ripping its flesh to finally break free. He instinctively flew backwards to create some distance and stay out of the captain's reach.

— That was wise of you, little demon. But not wise enough, if you think you are out of his reach, commented Merlinda.

— I will not allow you to run your mouth anymore, skank! When I am done with him, you will be next-

Kormwel got cut off once again, he looked down and saw that his abdomen got pierced... by his own ripped off hand. He coughed blood. He realized he was not a match for Hans. As the thought of retreating went through his mind, it was too late. Another hand impaled him. It was Hans' who was in the air in front of him. This man not only was strong and durable, he was also really fast.

— Hm! said Hans in a disappointed tone.

— He said that he'll be keeping that as a souvenir, translated Merlinda.

Hans did not perforate the demon's body at random. He made sure to skewer him at the exact same place he bolted the demon's hand into. All of this just so he could retrieve the hand and pull it out of his enemy. Kormwel could only watch him as he was still shocked by the strength of his opponent. Yet, his survival instincts kicked in just before Hans was about to finish him off. He casted [stun_zone7] with his remaining hand, causing a blinding light to shine through the darkness of the night sky. Hans' body failed him for a short moment and Kormwel used this opportunity to fly away at high speed before using a space manipulation spell: [teleport_home].

— AAGH!