Heroic Resolution

Ariana watched the danger enter the room. He glared at her as he entered. 

"Koichi..."

He scoffed. "I should have figured you'd show up here... the demon lord is your son, after all... makes sense you'd be here to get in the way of my quest." 

Three more people walked in with him. 

There was a human woman with a dress, a staff with an orb, and... a witch hat?! Damn! She knew she could have gotten away with wearing one!

There was a beastfolk girl who looked somewhat like a tabby cat. She had a vacant expression and a big smile. She was wielding a set of long metal claws.

There was an orcish man, very tall, very strong, and brandishing a massive hammer. 

They all followed behind Koichi. 

Ellie, Sophie, and Hayden stepped over to Ariana's side. 

Sophie glared at him. "Koichi..."

Koichi glanced over. "Huh? Wait... I remember you... You were the bad cleric! Figures you were in league with demons!"

Sophie became flustered. "You shut your stupid mouth! It's not my fault you suck at swinging that dumb stick around!"

Koichi growled and stepped forward, poised to strike. "SHUT UP! ALL YOU'RE GOOD FOR IS HEALING THE HERO, AND YOU COULDN'T DO THAT RIGHT!"

Hayden stepped up. "Okay, easy there, killer. Maybe you need to take it down a notch or two. I don't take kindly to raising a weapon on someone unprovoked."

Koichi glared at Hayden. "And you're the traitor paladin! You blew up your own church!"

Hayden frowned. "Now you're just telling lies, son. You were there. You saw who did it."

"You shot the priest with a big spell that exploded! And I saw that elf turn into a raven and drop a pumpkin on the priest!"

Ellie glanced to the side. "I mean, technically it was just a seed... and I turned into a crow... Is that really all I did?"

Koichi shook his head. "Whatever! You sided with the demons, too!"

Sophie peeked out from behind Hayden. "You're not making any sense, you're just looking for any excuse you can to fight!"

"I don't need an excuse, you're protecting the demon lord! I'm the hero! This is my story! I was chosen to slay the demon lord like the monster he is!"

Ellie leaned over. "Whoever wrote your story is a bad writer..."

Koichi growled and drew his sword.

The witchy woman put her hand out to stop him. "Wait... something isn't right." Her eyes had a silver glow.

"Huh?"

"I'm appraising them... none of them have a level over twenty."

"Yeah? So what?"

"Idiot, look where we are. We're standing in the demon lord's castle after going through waves of soldiers that were at least level sixty. Something doesn't add up."

Koichi turned to her. 

"Furthermore... that woman there... she has a title."

"Huh?! What do you mean she has a title!?"

"She's the Witch of the Wood."

The orc and the cat are alerted to that and take ready stances.

Koichi looked at Ariana. "You're... the Witch of the Wood?" He thought for a second. "...yeah... that makes sense now... Wait, the Witch of the Wood has a lower level than some wild dogs?! How is that even possible?!" 

Sophie shouted at them. "We don't go around killing people!"

The hero's party staggered back a bit.

Koichi stepped forward again. "What exactly are you implying, huh?!"

Hayden shook his head. "Ain't sure how you don't know this... You only gain levels when you kill." He glared down at Koichi with no signs of pity or hesitation. His voice was low and clear, but he spoke with emphasis. "What level are you at, killer?"

Koichi flinched and staggered back a bit, clearly shaken. 

Ariana was curious about this appraisal skill. She'd seen several people use it by now: Kristof, the elf guard at the harbor, and now this witchy woman. She scanned through her skill list looking for it. Luckily, it didn't take much searching; it was right towards the top. Luckily, it only cost her a single skill point. 

She took it.

She used it. 

Reading across her allies, they had the expected levels. Ellie was at level five, Sophie was at the lowest level of four, and Hayden was at level seven. 

Her focus shifted over to the hero's party. Not a single one of them was under...

Ariana was a bit shaken. "Level... seventy five..."

Koichi looked at her. "You... You have no right to judge me! We've been slaying monsters!" He pointed an accusatory finger. "I've heard about you! You killed an entire family of elves!"

Ellie shouted back at him. "That 'family' was a group of criminals! They tried to kill us for getting one of them arrested!"

Sophie jumped in. "Yeah, we defended ourselves! I know how you work, Koichi, you hunted down four bandit camps and killed them all!"

Koichi looked to be panicking. "Th-they were criminals! They'd been stealing from the villages! That... that doesn't count!!"

Hayden stepped forward again. "And just how many lives do you think 'don't count', boy?"

Koichi gasped and staggered back again, his grip on his sword shaking. "I... I... I'm the hero! Everything I do helps the world, damn it! You have no right to tell me I'm wrong, you're defending the demon lord! You're getting in my way!" 

Koichi raised his sword and ran for Hayden.

But then the sword was knocked from his hands by a black bolt from nowhere. 

Ariana felt a thump in her chest.

She looked to the side. 

From a doorway behind the throne came a young demon man in formal regalia. His hair was long and silver. His eyes were like amber, but they seemed to lack the spark of life. The casual stride he took was unnerving in the tension, and the unmoved expression on his face suggested this was little more than an inconvenient noise to him. 

The room fell silent as he slumped into the throne and leaned sideways on his hand... bored out of his mind. 

"I was wondering what all the racket was about. Turns out it was just some busibodies making a mess of my castle." 

Koichi stepped up, ignoring everyone else. "Demon Lord! I've come to destroy you!"

The man sighed and dragged his hand down his face. "...You are the fifth child this year to tell me that, you know?"

Everyone gasped. 

Koichi was shaken again. "Y-you're lying! I'm the chosen hero! I'm destined to slay you!"

"You're destined to throw yourself at me until you break. You're a pawn in a game that's been in play since before either of us has been in this world, a game I don't feel like playing. Go home." 

"I-I won't fall for your mind-games!"

"Are you deaf, or just stupid? Did I or did I not just say I don't feel like playing?"

As they talked, a horror crept over Ariana. 

She looked at this man's level. 

It was at five-hundred-twelve.

She stepped back a bit. "A... Alex..."

The man perked up slightly. "Hm?"

Koichi seized the moment of distraction to take up his sword again and dashed at the demon lord, his sword extended by an aetherial red glow. 

Ariana rushed forward, and a giant mushroom bounced up from the cracks in the tiles to cushion and block the blow. 

Koichi recoiled, but he moved with the momentum and sliced into the flesh of it. Ariana pulled back his striking hand with a bundle of threads. He staggered back, but broke free. He turned back to Ariana and growled out. "STAY OUT OF MY WAY!! HEROIC SMITE!!" 

He swung downwards at Ariana, and a wave of energy was released upon her.  Sophie moved to raise her staff. Hayden moved to try to divert. Ellie was rushing to strike. 

But it was too late. The energy cleaved through her chest. It was painful down to her soul; she would surely die this time. 

...But something was wrong. For some reason... little Tarry was in her mind. She had a vision of him bouncing happily back in the cart... and then he stopped... and shattered.

The wave passed through her, and she staggered back.

But she remained unharmed. 

Sophie put a shield up in front of Ariana, Hayden put up the diverting energy, and Ellie's knife stood in the way of a second strike with a sparking clash of blades. 

The man on the throne had stood up in that time and gripped Koichi's shoulder. He glowed a menacing violet hue. "Azazel." Koichi doubled over and screamed in agony. Ariana watched as Koichi's level plummeted, and the man's level shot up. By the end of it, Koichi writhed on the ground at level 1, and the man was at level five-hundred-eighty-seven. 

Everyone was stunned. 

The man stood up and released Koichi. "There... now go live a normal life and leave me be."

The orc raised his hammer. "You Bastard! GRAGH!" He ran at the demon lord. The cat hissed and darted around the room like a bolt of lightning. She was poised to strike him from behind as the orc's hammer swung to his head from the front. The Demon Lord's hand moved into the path of the hammer effortlessly toward the orc, and the weapon smashed uselessly around it to grab him by the face. 

He and the orc phased sideways to avoid the cat's strike, and she was caught by the scruff with his other hand. "Azazel." The two had their levels drained to one, just like Koichi, and the demon lord's level shot up nearly to eight hundred. He dropped them to the ground and turned to the witchy woman. "Do you have anything to add to this, or are you going to leave quietly?"

Ariana stepped forward. "Why are you doing this?!"

The demon lord looked at her. "I thought I made this pretty clear already... I have no interest in the games of the saints. Everything I've done has been to put an end to all of this. Either I succeed in the invasions and get rid of their nonsense one way, or they send enough so-called heroes my way that I hit level one thousand and end it that way."

The witchy woman stepped forward as well. "Level one thousand... you... You don't mean..."

"I'll evolve into the Demon God and kill their god."

"No, we can't let that happen!"

"Then I suggest you leave and stop feeding me levels."

"You... you need to be stopped!!"

"Probably, yes. You're welcome to try and fail like the rest of your party members, but I wouldn't advise that."

The woman shook like a leaf... then turned and ran. 

The Demon lord looked at Ariana's party. "...and what about the rest of you?"

Ariana slowly stepped forward. "Alex... Alexander..."

The Demon Lord locked eyes with her, "...Where did you hear that name?"

Ariana took a shaky breath. "My name... is Ariana... I'm looking for my son... his name is Alexander... We call him Alex..."

The Demon Lord's focus was pulled in on Ariana completely. "You... my mother?"