Chapter 21 - Mochi vs Loss

Herttua raised his large humanoid leg into the air, intending to step on the group and end things without troubling himself. Not wanting to rely on his sister for the battle, Zen took the initiative and lurched forward, slashing at the demon’s foot and causing him to step backward instead.

While he hated the compliment, Zen was truly a prodigy, and excelled in all of the training he’d ever received for the royal guard, but this was his first real battle outside of sparring with teammates. Even worse, his first real battle was against a colossus and he wasn’t confident about beating Herttua even before he doubled in size. His sole motivation came from knowing there was a possibility that this may be the only obstacle between his party and the Demon Lord, and saving the princess. He decided to focus on defeating Herttua for now, and worry about the next battle later.

Earlier, Zen had noticed when the demon’s feathers stiffened and rose that fleshy pink skin was briefly visible underneath. He hoped this meant that he would be able to freely use his sword, and inflict several minor injuries instead of a larger ultimate strike. Zen tried to be realistic about his abilities, though he had faith in his stamina, he needed to save his most powerful move for the end of the battle.

Scanning the area, he decided to use the rocky wall they had been sitting near to his advantage and quickly dashed upward and to the side of the demon.

Bounding off of the rock wall when he had reached an appropriate height, he made a play for Herttua’s wing. Calculating as always, he knew that if the demon ascended into the sky again he would have no hope of winning, and while Zen couldn’t be sure that Herttua had long range attacks he definitely knew magic, as the rain was still bouncing off of a large bubble surrounding the area.

Zen’s sword sliced downward in a large arching circle, and because Herttua was slower at his larger size, he made contact with the area between the demon’s wing and his back. Zen smiled, thinking he had been successful and soon his sword would continue down through the wing, but he was wrong.

While he did manage to cut a large slice into the joint, a mess of blood and feathers stalled his blade. Herttua’s chunky hand rose up and made a grab for Zen, so he pulled back on his sword and pushed off the beast, landing squarely on the ground again.

The demon’s beak opened again and a low rumbling was heard. Feathers pointed outward again, but this time launched out in a piercing attack, littering the ground in a sharp line approaching Zen, and following him closely as he continuously jumped to avoid them and lead them away from the girls.

Taking the opportunity to attack while being targeted, Zen charged again at the large feet planted firmly before him, and sliced at Herttua’s ankles. Managing to make a deep cut into one, Herttua fell to one knee and made a horrible cawing sound that rang out in waves. The girls, who had been watching cautiously and with fear for their companion pressed firmly on their ears.

The sound coming from the demon was almost an attack on its own, as it was shrill enough to cause great pain to Milly. Her poor puppy ears couldn’t handle the amplified sound, and tears welled up as she whimpered. Her pain only lasted for a second as she soon felt warm hands cupping over her own paws and pulled ears. She looked to see Nao, smiling kindly as usual, and Milly was touched for a moment before her own negativity caused her to think the act of kindness was only because she was the princess.

Zen once again seized his opportunity, and while Herttua was lowered, he attempted the same move as before. He dashed up the rock face, and spun his sword around to strike at the gash he’d previously made.

Midair and moments from landing his attack, Zen felt a hard impact that seemed to crunch his body upward. He opened his eyes and saw dark rainclouds coming closer, and then drifting farther.

The girls looked on in horror as his body fell from a great height, and he landed with a thud into the damp dirt. Herttua had punched him with a supercharged uppercut, revealing speed that no one would think possible.

Everyone cried out and rushed over to Zen. His body lay motionless, and even when Mochi attempted to nudge his arm onto her head, it was limp.

After a moment he started to pixelate away, and each of the remaining party looked up at Herttua with rage and sadness. Nao was positioned in front of the other two, ready to protect Mochi and Milly with her life, but they all hesitated, almost waiting for Herttua to target them next, but in reality worrying about their own capability when Zen had just been killed.

As Milly had seen before in the castle, Nao had brandished sewing needles between her fingers, though she was unsure how powerful a punch could be when the opponent was so large.

Milly herself thought to try her new fire projectile, but doubted it would make much of a difference when they were all doomed now.

Mochi growled between whines, sad that her friend had been killed by someone other than her, and fearful of the big scary bird.

Surprisingly Herttua began to steam, and shrink again in size. Staying on guard they watched him get smaller and smaller until he was back to being a regularly oversized bird demon. He reached back trying to touch the wound on his wing, and lifted his injured foot slightly off the ground, taking the weight off it.

“Dang, that kid is good. These really hurt.”

“Why have you shrunk? We’re not going to forgive you for killing my brother.”

“Girlie, I already told you I’m not real fond of fighting ladies, and you two are barely hatchlings.”

Milly was offended that she was being ignored and wasn’t included with the “ladies”, and her anger bubbled more. Her paws flexed and the little claws under her fur pushed out.

“Whoa now fuzzy thing, you keep all that dark magic at bay. That stuff’s not safe if you don’t know how to use it. Amateurs get hurt, don’t be stupid.”

Milly took the words to heart and doubted herself again, before a blur of motion passed by her.

“Don’t you dare call my Princess stupid.”

Herttua: 1

Zen: 0