An Attack on Mirtue Village

Robin jumped off the hooded wagon and immediately sprinted toward the village. The village had no walls, leaving it defenseless toward an attack like this, but this was wrong, demons shouldn't have reached this far into the kingdom yet.

Immediately, he fired off three arrows, quickly taking down three demons that were about to attack the people. His forte was never straight confrontations, but if it’s just for this, then there would be no problem. The Green Hood never misses.

But he couldn’t be everywhere. Off in the distance, a woman was crying out.

“S–Save… me…”

There was a demon readying its blade, and Robin’s hands were too full to deal with it.

“NO!” he shouted, and as if fate itself had given him a blessing, the monster’s head came clean off. Courtesy of the finest knight’s swift blade.

“Go!” Frederick shouted back, at that moment, they couldn’t be huddled up like this,

The village was already in flames. The houses made of wood were all stacked on top of each other with wooden bridges connecting the different structures, the terrain was uneven, almost like a jungle, with random corners leading into caves. The village specialized in coal mining, and the creatures of destruction had come from deep within the mines.

“Are you okay?” he said, getting down from the horse and reaching out to the lady.

“Y…Yes…” she replied.

“Don’t worry, ma’am, everything will be fine, alright? My allies and I are here to help.”

For a moment, the lady breathed a sigh of relief, thankful, but suddenly an explosive roar echoed, followed by one of the houses being run through. It was Darakota, slamming demons left and right and striking with his weapon of choice, a large mace much too heavy for anyone to carry. An unstoppable force that would no doubt serve as an invaluable asset, only–

“Ah…”

The lady Frederick saved just now looked terrified.

“D–Don’t worry about him, Ma’am. He’s with us. We’ll make sure all the demons are taken care of,” Frederick said, and then immediately after another house collapsed from Darakota’s strikes.

“That was… my home…” the lady whimpered.

Frederick just smiled awkwardly, before turning back to Darakota frustrated.

“Be careful! These are people’s homes!”

“Eh!? What’da I care!? They should be thankin’ me, dammit!” Darakota replied

He continued on his rampage, paying no mind to Frederick.

*******

Running. Robin kept running. Through the different tight crevices of the town, up to the rooftops, inside houses. No matter where the demons were, he quickly got rid of them. Eventually he ended up inside a bedroom and inspected. They weren’t there.

He just clicked his tongue before jumping back outside. At times like this, the villagers were ordered to head straight for the church. But something was wrong, why were there people running around aimlessly? He already had a sneaking suspicion, but the very thought only enraged him more as he dashed faster and faster, navigating the dense web of a town he was all too familiar with.

Soon the church came to view, and with his eagle eye vision saw several people banging on the door, trying to get in. But it wouldn’t open.

Robin clicked his tongue and shot at the incoming demons, protecting the people, before running and reaching the tall structure.

The church was the only building in the village built with slabs of cobblestone, making it the safest place at times like this.

Immediately, after reaching the rooftop, the thief opened a trap door that only he knew about and entered from above. There in the hall were three priests and nuns, all praying to the altar.

Robin’s suspicions were proven right.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Robin shouted. “There are people out there, let them in!”

“Wh–Who are you!? How did you get in here!” the head priest shouted back. “Wait, no… you’re that scoundrel! The thief who stole our mo… our lord's blessings!”

“Now’s not the time for this, shitheads!”

Robin ran straight past him and tried opening the door, but it was futile. Besides being locked several times over, there was an enchantment placed on it. After a moment’s struggle, Robin looked back towards the people in the church with a death glare.

“Our duty is to defend this church, we cannot risk it…”

“Under whose authority?”

After asking, the priest shuddered as a bead of sweat trickled down.

“God… God told us to,” he replied.

That was all Robin needed to hear.

“Wh–What are you–GAH!”

The priest had no time to say anything else before an arrow ran straight into his shoulder.

“Open it,” Robin said.

“H–Hieeh-!” the priest fell to the ground and screamed in pain.

His followers were too afraid to get close.

Every step taken by the boy—who should have been lighter than a feather—echoed like thunder in the priest's ears. Once he got close, he grabbed the arrow, still lodged in the priest’s shoulders and started dragging him to the front door.

Leaving a trail of blood behind them, Robin lifted him up and slammed him on the doors so hard the people outside noticed the door budge slightly.

“Open it,” he said again.

The priest was crying from the pain and whimpering in fear, but Robin had no time for this. He slammed him on the wall again, breaking his nose.

“Open it!” he finally shouted, before glaring back at the priest’s followers.

None of them were willing to step up. They were trembling, too afraid to even take a step forward.

At that moment, the green hood gripped his bow again ready to break the curse at the cost of three worthless lives.

Just then, he felt a warm glow in his pocket. There was a looking glass. A device they used for communication, and inside was Sir Logan.

“Stand down,” he said. “Hand them the looking glass.”

Robin said nothing before throwing the looking glass. The followers, fearful, almost missed it but were able to catch it.

“Father Cornelius,” a voice said through the call. “Please, open the gates.”

“N–No… this… can’t be–” Cornelius, the priest with the bloody nose, grew pale. “High Priest Jugend?”

The others murmured for a while, not believing what they had just witnessed.

“Yes. T’is I, the High Priest Jugend. I know not of the terror that plagues your mind at this moment, but the lord would never refuse offering aid. Let them in,” Junge, taking the form of the eighty year old priest ‘Jugend,’ said.

“B–But still…”

Before Cornelius could finish his sentence, another familiar face walked in.

“If his word alone is not enough, then take mine as well.”

“Sir Logan!?”

“I shall have you beheaded if a single soul drops dead by the footsteps of your church.”

The Priest grew pale and immediately lifted the spell on the church, allowing people to run inside. The near empty halls immediately filled up before Robin shut the door, just in time before the demons reached them.

Robin quickly eliminated all that were close by before inspecting the people. They still weren’t there. He just clicked his tongue before running back up the stairs and jumped until he reached the top floor once more and started shooting.

*******

While Darakota was on his rampage, Frederick and Tristan stopped any demon from getting closer to the refugees that stood by their wagon. Despite the area near the church now being safe, the outskirts were still dangerous. There, even if it meant leaving the civilians alone, he considered charging in. But before he could, the demons started dropping like flies.

Large vines sprouted from the dirt and slithered around in the ground if it had a mind of its own. As demons tried to attack them, the vines would snatch them by the leg, lifting them up and having another one pull them the other direction. Tighter. Tighter and tighter till they screamed in pain, bones dislocating, flesh tearing until they were ripped clean in half with blood splattering everywhere.

This came from none other than Nout’n, still talking and clamoring in joy.

With every step he took, more and more demons got entangled in vines being ripped to shreds or whipped till they could no longer move.

Now Robin, Darakota and Nout’n were all taking down the demons, whittling down their numbers quickly. This had been the first time Frederick saw them battle something he would actually consider a danger. There was no doubt, these people were far stronger than any typical knight. Even if there were just seven of them in total, they carried the power of a hundred men.

Still, that didn’t prepare them for what came immediately after.

The air grew cold.

Nothing changed. The line of sunlight still beamed freely in the skies. Everyone felt the same chill as if it were deep into the night.

Everyone felt it, including the demons that ran away in terror. From the east, crows flew over a dark figure that charged at breakneck speed. A large figure standing taller than the church Robin stood on top of–running. Running. Running.

The demonic beast roared, its voice sounding like the cries of a thousand tortured souls.