The Tale of how I Reincarnated as a hero but Decided to Help the Demon Lord Instead (pt.1)

The longer I followed Cut through the halls the more I doubted that he was telling the truth, but it was still my best option to trust him.

"Remember our deal, don't kill him." Cut pleaded.

"I remember." I begrudgingly accepted.

********

"Cut..." Crann growled as he sharpened a polished tanto knife putting quite a bit more strength than needed into the whetstone. "Traitor, it doesn't matter I'll just kill him too. At least he hurried this little game up. As soon as Tokuma walks through that door I'll slit your throat, then I'll kill him with a clone of yourself." A sinister smile grew on Crann's face stretching from ear to ear as he placed his knife to Makono's throat anxiously.

The door into the room bursted open, Crann's knife just barely nicked Makono's throat before Crann was launched back into a stone wall by a powerful punch that could only belong to one person.

"Whew, looks like I got to you before Eldin after all," Torrikkusatu said before turning to Makono. "You look like garbage, in a good way of course."

Crann stood up and brushed debris from his suit. "Sonju Torrikkusatu, son of Eric Frost and Thia Torrikkusatu. You left The Orochi Isles because you were determined to see if you could gather strong individuals to join your little nameless guild. Oh but you left more than your hometown behind didn't you. Poor Sieg." He said as he slowly approached Torrikkusatu.

Torrikkusatu released another powerful punch only to have Crann narrowly dodge it, and it to embed itself into the wall behind him.

"You nosy prick! Don't go peaking where your not wanted!" Torrikkusatu yelled in anger as he prepared another punch.

Crann opened his hand where a small dagger appeared, he attempted to stab Torrikkusatu in his stomach but the dagger wouldn't pierce his skin.

"That's different." Crann noticed.

Torrikkusatu went to punch Crann again but he ducked the blow and shifted himself to Torrikkusatu's side. While Torrikkusatu planted his own fist into the wall... Again.

"You may be strong, but your dumb as hell. If I can't pierce your flesh I'll just break it." Crann said as he summoned a large decorated warhammer maul about as tall as himself and held it with one hand in similar stance to his clone.

"You can summon whatever weapon you like. I'll still mop the floor with you." Torrikkusatu said as he cracked his knuckles and crushed a rock in his hand after being stuck in the wall.

Crann swung his hammer as Torrikkusatu charged him recklessly.

Meanwhile I finally found the torture room with Cut and we both entered.

"Torrikkusatu? I guess he's with you?" Cut asked nervously as he saw the fistprints in the walls.

I nodded before noticing Makono and immediately starting to release her. She didn't appear to be in awful condition outside of a few bruises and a nick in her throat she was fine which was more than her tattered clothes could say.

"You know that hammer of yours is starting to get annoying." Torrikkusatu said picking himself out of a wall.

"Annoying? Most people are dead after a single strike. This was built by Andre, as such it shares his ability to manipulate any energy which is why it's launching you with minimal difficulty. " Crann said with a smile as he twisted the hammer in his hands. "That guy had some power, shame what happened."

"Aren't you worried about Eldin taking Makono back?" Torrikkusatu asked completely ignoring what Crann was talking about.. "Or have you just accepted defeat."

"Nah. I just don't care, I might as well still have her."

Before Torrikkusatu could decrypt Crann's meaning, he was forced to dodge a full forced hammer swing.

As soon as Makono was freed I supported her with my shoulder and left for the exit.

"I'm staying here." Cut said. "I've never seen Torrikkusatu fight firsthand I can't let him kill Crann, or the other way around."

"Fine. Just don't do anything stupid." I warned.

"Wait Tokuma, it's not what you-" Makono said before I interrupted her and rushed out of the room into the halls.

"Save your strength, I don't want to carry you all the way back to Towyn."

Makono looked down shamefully as though she had something she was hiding, however I knew I could just ask her once we got back.

I could feel as the air became drier and frigid, a thin layer of frost appeared on the walls and over the windows.

Walking down the hall was a woman with frosty blue hair and equally blue eyes dressed in an extravagant ballroom dress.

"Ah, what luck I've not only found the Demon Lord but a traitor who would free her." The girl said.

"Forgetting somebody?" A shirtless man wearing nothing but jeans said with his hand combing through his jet black hair. "If Lothrin asks we both found him. And could you please stop with that damn cold!"

"It wouldn't be so cold if you knew how to wear a shirt."

"Forget it we've got a different situation. Where's the priest?" The man said. "He must be that rogue hero we've been hearing about, I heard he's the guy took out Andre no real loss since he was a giant di-"

"Language!" A white haired elderly man who looked reasonably well in spite of his age, dressed in a holy garb said. "Freiala, Colt. Let's deal with him so we can return to our studies."

"We were waiting on you old man!" They both exclaimed as I stared completely dumbstruck."We wanted to just defeat the demon lord so we could go home but we were kind enough to wait."

Once I heard that, I knew my chances of winning substantially drop seeing as they were both heroes.

Suddenly the windows shattered and in a split second after Miyamoto emerged with his gun placed against Freiala's head. "Hiya Elsa, what do you say, you ready to let it go?"

"Why can't I cast any magic." Freiala said in a panicked voice.

"I've learned from explaining my abilities."

In a flash Miyamoto was drop-kicked by Colt. "Anti-magic of a sort. Fortunately the momentum that my speed creates isn't magic."

"Tokuma, go! And take Makono with you she's screwing up my game." Miyamoto said recovering from the kick.

"You sure you can handle them alone?" I asked.

"Nope. Go anyway." Miyamoto said as he cocked his hammer back on his newer, slicker, revolver.

I obliged running off with Makono over my shoulder.

"Fraiala, get him I've got Miyamoto." Colt said.

"What! But what about me!?" The priest asked in shock. "I summoned both of you who do I go with?"

"Freiala. I've got this chump." Colt answered the priest who spared no time in catching up with Freiala.

********

Meanwhile Musashi recalled his conversation with Miyamoto the night before just before going to sleep.

"Lux has five generals in total, even within them is his top three most trusted advisors. There's Crann the Executioner, Johannes the Blademaster, and Eros the Diplomat. The other two generals are new as they were summoned at the same time as us. I never met them but I believe they were Freid, and Dominique. Since I'm a former member I can probably search the palace for Makono though in all honesty if she's there it won't have been by choice. Your probably the only one who can fight Johannes so you can search where he patrols in the housing district. Also take Graxia with you, she can't wonder alone and she's probably safer with you."

"Since when did you care about whether or not she's safe?" Musashi said as he chewed on a piece of jerky through a small mouth piece on his new wooden oni mask.

"What! What gave you the assumption I did!? It's not like that at all moron!" Miyamoto defended hastily dropping the scarlet gun he was assembling.

"You might wanna pick that back up lovebird. Demonite is not exactly common. As for Graxia. I don't have a problem bringing her with me, the priestess that summoned me ran off immediately, though that was probably because I got summoned naked for some cruel reason."

********

"We're totally lost aren't we." Graxia asked exhausted as she and Musashi navigated through the maze that was the housing district.

"It would appear so. To be honest I don't understand what she'd be doing here. If she's after Tokuma then why go to the noble's district, most likely she went to the common district where she was apprehended and brought to the palace, Miyamoto knew this though that's why he went and made us stay here where it's safe, just in case however he had me watch you." Musashi surmised as he continued to wonder aimlessly.

"But why would he do that? It's dangerous in the palace especially if Makono is there, they'd have their best men watching her. He could die."

"Oh to be young again." Musashi dreamed before suddenly stopping and gesturing Graxia to do the same. "What are the odds. Johannes is near."

A man dressed in a vibrant red vest over an elegant white shirt paired with equally white pants with an ordinary longsword hanging from his hip leaped from a building to the ground. "Oho. Vundabar you have noticed little ol’ me?" He said in a thick german accent. "Oh, you too are a skilled fechter yes? Do not lie I can sense it hero. It is obvious we both have great power even without swords, but I propose an Ehrenvolles Duel using naught but our own skills."

"I may not understand half of what you said. But the half I did, I agree with." Musashi said as he drew his sword. He held it upright at his right shoulder letting it slightly slope to his rear while positioning his left foot forward. "Stance of Wood. Hassō-no-Kamae."

Johannes unsheathed his sword and entered a stance of his own he held his sword with two hand above his right shoulder keeping his hilt pointing at Musashi's stomach and his blade pointing behind him. He extended his right leg forward with a slight bend at his knee while shifting his left foot at a forty-five degree angle also with a slight bend at his knee. "The roof stance Vom Dach."

"Should I go continue looking for Makono? Or should I stay here and watch in case Musashi needs help?" Graxia pondered.

********

"Okay now that they've probably made some distance I don't have to hold back." Torrikkusatu said littered with bruises while his opponent was unscathed.

"Am I supposed to be scared? You haven't landed a single hit."

Torrikkusatu laughed. "Being scared won't help you."