Chapter 10:

The Tale of how I Battled yet Another Hero.

The Tale of how I was Reincarnated as a Hero but Decided I'd Help the Demon Lord Instead.


Me and the others seemed to have gotten enough sleep on the benches since nobody complained as we followed Lux on our new quest.

Lux began explaining our quest as we made our way down the southern road. " Apparently Towyn has been running low on resources, their main supplier is none other then Lyrn but for whatever reason the supplies have stopped, the leaders of Towyn want to know if Lyrn is holding back or if something happened. "

 " Wait. If there's a road why did we trek through a forest to get here? " Usagi asked with a tone of irritation as she twitched her brow.

 " Cause it was quicker. " Lux's smile dissolved into a face of terror as he witnessed a dark aura emitting from Usagi. " Uh Usagi. Please don't kill me. " He whimpered.

 " You know maybe that's why the guards were so cautious. " Graxia commented, her fierce blue eyes glaring at Lux with disdain.

 " Come on guys, imagine how exhausted you'd all be of we had to walk further. " Lux said defensively. " Help me out Tokuma. "

Frankly I agreed with everyone else but he did save my life when he lied about the tradition. " I think it was a learning experience for us all. Besides if the demon slayers are looking for us, remaining on the road would've just made us easier to spot. "

Nobody bothered to keep up with the argument so I considered my persuasion successful.

Lux suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. " Can you smell it? " He asked in serious voice.

Makono nodded. " Demons were here. At least fifty. "

I didn't smell anything but I chose to believe Makono and Lux, I crouched down to the ground inspecting the numerous footprints which was common enough on a well traveled road, about fifty sets of them were different however, they were hastily covered up which ironically made them stand out. " Fifty sounds about right, the amount of footprints is immeasurable, but a few were haphazardly covered up, probably by your demon friends. " My heroic persona seemed to know how to track people, just not animals as my hunting session proved. Upon looking closer at the ground there were deep carriage tracks that suddenly derailed into the forest. " Well, tracks lead to the forest. " I concluded as I followed the tracks to the edge of the forest. 

 " Lead the way Tokuma. " Lux said hesitantly.

The tracks were more difficult to see once we got in the forest due to the amount of leaves, branches, et cetera. Fortunately though we didn't have to go far as we soon found a pile of broken supply wagons loosely covered by big leaves, they were impossible to spot from the road, but easy enough to see up close.

 Makono sniffed the air in a weird almost exited manner. " They're close. "

Lux opened his hand preparing for the worst.

 " Lux? Is that you? " A soft female voice spoke clearing the silence. Lux instantly dropped his guard. My eyes immediately shifted to the source. It was a pretty girl with short bob cut red hair and eyes to match it's color, she was dressed in tattered makeshift clothes many sizes too large probably looted from one of the caravans.

Once we saw she wasn't a threat everyone cooled off, everyone but Usagi. " Who's she? " Usagi asked immediately with frustration drawn clearly on her face as she crossed her arms.

 " Koroki. She's in old friend. " Lux replied spellbound, without even diverting his gaze from the girl. " You've grown a lot. "

 " It's been sixty years. Of course I've grown. " Koroki said as she ran up and hugged Lux.

I saw Usagi's face turn red and her ears shoot straight up, I couldn't tell if she was blushing, or if she was mad. " Oh. So you two are a item then? Why didn't you just say? " She said grinding her teeth together.

" It's not like that. He saved me when I was a child, so I had a bit of a childhood crush. But I don't anymore. " Koroki explained with utmost confidence.

Usagi's face returned to normal but she was still tense.

 " Come on. I have something to show you. " Koroki exclaimed joyously as she led us deeper into the woods.

Along the way Lux introduced us all, I got called an edgelord, the normal.

 " It really is good to see you, but I have to know. Why are you stealing the supplies? The people of Towyn need those to survive. " Lux said making Koroki stop in her tracks.

 " Just as naive as ever. " Koroki said still facing away from Lux, her tone of voice sounded more like she was complimenting him then insulting him. " Towyn would never let us in. This is the only way. "

 Lux was left without a reasonable response so instead we all stood awkwardly in silence. Just as Koroki was about to continue Makono interrupted.

" That's not true. The people there were nice to me. "

" You were seen!? " Koroki said in a state of panic. " Follow me quickly! "

The situation escalated so quickly all I could do was try to keep up with Koroki as she expertly navigated through the forest at break neck speeds.

Koroki stopped to regain so!e of her stamina. " Did we lose him? "

I heard a tapping like a woodpecker. For some reason it really stood out to me and made the hairs on my neck stand on end. The tapping got louder and louder until it became unbearable.

 " What is that!? " Graxia cried out covering her ears in a attempt to drown out the deafening tapping or rather pounding.

" Damnit, he found us. " Koroki growled doing the same.

I looked around and spotted the source. A lanky man dressed in a long brown cloak with a fancy red tux underneath, he was tapping his fingers on the tree in tune with the pounding with a sinister look in his yellow eyes. His blue hair spiked straight up at least four inches from his actual scalp. His mouth morphed into a toothy decrepit smile as his fingers began to pick up pace.

Makono's and Usagi's sensitive ears began to bleed as they fell to the ground clutching their hands over their ears.

I had one more throwing knife since we never restocked, I threw it at the creep and pinned his hand to the tree halting the pounding noise and finally giving everyone a break.

it took awhile for everyone to regain their posture, Lux was next after me.

He charged right up to the creep and lifted him by his cloak.

" Hey watch the suit pretty boy! " The creep shouted seemingly unfazed, even his creepy smile went unchanged.

" Are you with the demon slayers!? " Lux interrogated in a stern voice.

" His name is Andre Hanz, he's been stalking me for awhile trying to find the rest of our camp. "

Graxia knelt by Makono and Usagi and began healing them with her magic after she casted silence creating a small dome around them which no sound could enter or exit.

" Are you really that dumb? Lothrin said you were some kinda prodigy. So far I'm not so impressed. " Andre taunted with a smug voice as his terrifying gold eyes stared deep into Lux's.

" Took down you didn't l? " Lux exclaimed as he slammed the creep against the tree with enough force to make him spit blood, and tear a hole in his hand where my knife was.

The creep rubbed his blood off his mouth. " One. You were to busy writhing in pain to stop me that was your pirate friend. Two I'm just getting started. " Andre placed his finger on Lux's forehead. " Now back off! " Before he could react Lux was lunched back into a tree. Like an anime villain Andre went on to explain. " I think it's time I tell you just how low your chances are of winning. Unlike other heroes I only have a single spell. It's called amplify. As the name suggests I have the ability to use my mana to amplify any already existing energy. Examples include, kinetic energy, static energy, sound. And so much more. "

" Tokuma with me, Koroki, can you fight? " Lux purposely left Graxia and the others out as he was aware they were occupied

Koroki nodded and raised her fists to her cheekbones while keeping her elbows tight against her ribs, she continuously hopped as well to keep her blood flowing. Her stance shared scary similarities with the popular Peek-a-Boo boxing stance.

Unfortunately as a introvert I never had any time to work on teamwork, and my heroic persona was based on an assassin so that didn't help. For the sake of everyone I was on my own.

It was time for some experiments. 

I filled the area with a misty illusion making it impossible to see any further then your own feet.

Lux  didn't protest, at least not out loud. But I could tell he was confused.

" Really. This is it? I don't need to see anyone to burst your ears. " Andre starting whistling amplifying the sound. It was a painful experiment but it proved effective. His spell worked in a way similar to electricity, whenever he amplified a energy any magic that he is touching was also amplified, in this case it was not very helpful however as the mist only got thicker.

I launched in illusory orb of flame at him powering through the pain of the piercing sound, the mist obscuring his eyes he couldn't see or dodge the orb until a fraction of it hit him which made it explode in size.

He hastily stopped whistling in shock and dodged further away out of reflex, then I dispersed the mist so Lux and Koroki could see again.

" That spell of yours is a double edged sword. " I said loudly enough for everyone to hear as I reappeared between Lux and Koroki. " While it's active any spell that hits you has an amplified effect as well. " 

" Well duh. " He said taking me off guard. He threw his cloak off revealing the demon slayers insignia with two blood droplets showing he was actually a lower rank then Miyamoto. " That's not a problem though. " He began to run his hands together until a stream of electricity bridged them together. " Because you'll be dead before you exploit it. "

I saw a field appear in front of Lux, thinking back on it he had it against Miyamoto as well, it was what blocked his bullets. 

Andre launched forward a ball of electricity which dispersed on Lux's barrier.

The spell he was using was called mana manipulation, he could create a semi invisible barrier of pure mana that is unbreakable to those who have less mana then the caster.

Fortunately this proved that Lux had more mana then Andre.

It was good that I learned a weakness in his power, but there was no way to tell when Andre even activated his ability until it was too late.

Lux and Koroki were attempting to land a hit on him but apparently his scrawny body was easy to maneuver around their strikes as he effortlessly dodged each without fail. Lux made the split second mistake of over committing a downward slash, once Andre saw Lux's blade pointing towards the ground and away from him he took advantage of his opening and punched him in the gut, he then amplified the force and launched Lux back several yards. In almost the same millisecond Koroki attempted a punch but was denied by Andre deflecting the blow with the back of his hand, Koroki dodged before he could amplify his blow however and immediately went for an uppercut, but this one was different, her fist was enveloped in black flames like Makono used before. Her fist exploded in a inferno of flames as it made contact with Andre who was launched upwards on his back.

Koroki looked at her hand which was now slightly burnt as her flames were too hot even for her. But she didn't dwell and immediately started punching Andre while he was down.

" You know your not the first demon I've killed today. " He taunted in between her blows. " I found your little hideout. " 

A sadistic smile grew on Andre's face and that's when I caught wind of his plan. " Koroki don't! " I shouted without time to explain.

" Have you ever heard the sound of pure fear before? Some people scream, that one's popular with children, some people freeze, that's pretty common in teenagers or cowardly adults even. But my personal favorite is the type who fight back, ah, but of course they only do because they have something to fight for. " Andre paused for a moment as he words settled deep in everyone's mind, soon I caught on and so did Koroki judging by the well of tears surfacing in her eyes. " You should understand, after all your child wouldn't shut up about how you'd save her life. " Andre began to chuckle and spouts of his blood splattered on Koroki's face. 

I could see an aura of pure hatred pouring off from Koroki. But she didn't understand his plan. " Koroki! Stop! "

Suddenly she exploded in black flames, Andre began screaming in a ear splitting tone. 

" Hahhaha. " His cries turned to laughter as he kicked Koroki off of him. His flesh had been burnt nearly to a crisp and yet he was laughing hysterically. 

" What's going on! " Lux shouted in a infuriated, confused voice.

It was just as I thought. He manipulated Koroki into using her powers then he amplified them making her burn herself alive.

She slowly crawled over to Lux as he fell to his knees and cradled her with shaky arms. " Graxia, Makono! Come here now! "

Graxia saw the explosion of black flames and rushed over to Koroki Makono alongside her, though she wasn't in tip top shape. 

I was left to face Andre. He was already pretty badly burned, maybe not as badly as Koroki but he had to be at a disadvantage. Even so I could feel the aura of malice sinking it's claws into me, instead of making me mad, or scared however, instead it dulled my emotions with terrifying efficiency. I focused on everything around me, Andre's laughter, Koroki's cries, Lux's worried voice, Graxia's prayer, and Makono's quivering breath, Usagi was still in the dome so I couldn't hear her but I assumed she was still recovering.

" I guess it's just us, rogue hero. " Andre said with a lisp.

I didn't reply instead I used greater illusions to ensnare him in pitch black darkness. He tried to talk but I prevented his voice from reaching his ears. Everyone else heard him but he couldn't hear himself.

He could hear me though or rather Thanatos voice I was speaking in as I mimicked his deepest fears. " Andre. You pathetic scum! I brought you here for one thing, to slay the demon lord. Not slay the whole race! There's a balance in this world and you messed it up. I shall take your powers, and your sight, and your ability to hear. But I will leave you your life! To forever roam the world in a eternity of agony! Nobody will love you, nobody will hate you, you will forever walk this world as nobody! "

Andre fell to the ground in tears while he begged for forgiveness, I don't know how I knew what would terrify him, it had nothing to do with my heroic persona, it was something much more sinister. " Just kill me. " He cried.

I dispelled the illusions as I pointed my blade to his throat.

" Wait! Tokuma! " Lux shouted at me. " Killing a hero will change you. Not only mentality but physically too! "

I looked to him and smiled, to be honest I didn't even really hear him, it was like he was talking to me through a five inch thick cement wall." No thanks. I want to do this. " 

Graxia's eyes widened in shock as I nonchalantly pierced through Andre's throat with a smile on my face. " Tokuma, your eyes they're red! " 

After killing Andre my body went numb and I collapsed to the ground.

Graxia cradled my head as I looked around the scene. In my final moments before passing out I saw Lux helping Usagi up as he spoke to Koroki, his hand gestures seemed to show he was comforting her. Makono and Graxia must've healed her like they did to me since she looked like she was never burned except for the fact that her clothing was charred. All in all they were still recovering but everyone seemed fine.

Unable to remain awake I shut my eyes and floated into unconsciousness.

Mystical Frog
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