HFMD - Chapter 85 < Why Is This Here? >




Despite the chaotic situation, her mind was eerily clear. Only one thought dominated my mind.

'I have to find Randall.'

Even Sylvia, who had the title of Archmage, couldn't use proper magic in Kelvetia. Fortunately, in addition to magic, she had the power of 'darkness' that she could freely use in Kelvetia, but Randall didn't even have that. She knows he's a knight with outstanding skills, but... How long can he last in this land full of monsters and demons with just a sword and no swordsmanship? 

The human scent he carries will constantly attract the monsters and demons. That's why Sylvia was now in a tavern on the outskirts of Kelvetia with her hood pulled down low. Since Randall had no other way to hide his human scent, he would be discovered by the demons before long. And if that happened, the tavern would be the first place to hear the news.

“Here, another beer!”

“Hey, how long has it been since I ordered and the food hasn’t come out yet?”

“Oh, sorry! I’ll bring it to you right now!”

“I said, do it right, do it right!”

The inside of the tavern, filled with drunken demons, was so noisy that it was deafening. Sylvia sat in a corner, drinking a glass of alcohol in front of her, and listened to the demons’ conversation. The two demons sitting at the table next to her were talking to each other while drinking alcohol.

“Hey, Rocktin. I’ve been hearing a lot of talk lately about the pacifist faction guys dying or disappearing.”

“Huh, so what? I don’t like how the pacifist faction has been running wild lately. Peace is just an excuse for the weak, isn’t it?”

The demon known as Rocktin, who had a scar across his eyebrow, snorted and gulped down his drink. Then the demon sitting across from him who had been speaking clicked his tongue and tapped his hand with his glass.

“If you say so, the leader of the pacifist faction is the Duke of Shert? He’s the second most powerful person after Her Majesty Evelyn. If you’re so dissatisfied, why don’t you get rid of the Duke first?”

“Damn, talk some sense. How can a low-level demon like me defeat someone like that?”

“That’s what I’m saying, you little shit.”

"Shit."

As Rocktin gritted his teeth, the other party burst into laughter. Sylvia, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, felt something strange and quietly narrowed her brows.

'Your Majesty Evelyn... you say?'

"For our King, Baynas!"

"For Venice!
"

Surely, the current Demon King's name must be 'Baynas'? 

Sylvia was filled with doubt as she recalled the words the Dark Bugs had shouted at the King's birthday party. The Dark Bugs worship the Demons. So if she looks at it closely, their King should be the Demon King, not the King of Humans.

'Did the dark bugs misunderstand?'

Sylvia tilted her head, not knowing what was going on at all. But right now, finding out news about Randall was more urgent than focusing on such questions. Sylvia moved away unnoticed and listened to the stories of the demons, but the topic of 'humans' did not come up. She stared anxiously outside the dark window.

'Quite some time has already passed.'

It had already been half a day since Sylvia and Randall had set foot in Kelvetia. When she was Alyssa, it had been less than an hour since she had landed in Kelvetia before the demons and the dwarves would have swarmed them, so by now...

'No, let's not think about it.'

Sylvia shook her head to shake off the bloody afterimage that came to her mind without her knowing. She tried to calm her heart, catching her breath. Even if Randall was incapable of properly wielding the sword, he was an excellent swordsman. So he couldn’t have died a violent death like this without a sound. It would have been...

“This kid is real!”

Boom! 

At that moment, a loud noise echoed through the middle of the tavern, drowning out all the other noises. Sylvia, who flinched her shoulders, instinctively turned her head toward the direction from which the noise had come. Two demons, their faces flushed with alcohol, were grabbing each other by the collar and shouting at each other.

“What? You called me a kid, just now?”

“Then should I give a title to the guy who wants to take the loot from the guy I dealt with?”

“What the hell! All I did was stab the guy I had caught with my sword!”

“What is going on?”

“Don’t stay here and do this, go out and solve it, go out!”

The two demons began to fight fiercely. The boss frowned and shouted in annoyance, but the two demons who were already excited and the other demons watching the fight showed no intention of stopping. In fact, they were excited to instigate the fight. 

Ping-pung- 

Meanwhile, while the two demons were distracted by the fight, the 'spoils' that seemed to be the cause of their fight rolled across the floor and came to Sylvia's feet. Sylvia unconsciously reached out and picked it up. The moment she caught sight of the small, sparkling object on her palm, she felt her heart drop to the tips of her toes and held her breath.

'...This.'

Why is this here? 

Sylvia stared blankly at the loot in her palm for a moment. A gold ornament with a roaring lion carved into it. It was the Belfort family crest that adorned Randel's sword.

As the words the demons were muttering flashed through her mind, Sylvia’s new form moved as if it was bouncing. She immediately kicked the ground and grabbed the demon’s neck, who was about to throw a punch, and lifted it up. The demon, who was lifted into the air so lightly, flailed his feet.

“Cough, ugh! What the hell, what the...!”

“Who are you dealing with?”

The moment a cold voice pierced his ears, goosebumps ran through his head. The air in the tavern froze in an instant. The demons unconsciously trembled at the ominous feeling they felt from the unidentified figure wrapped tightly around their entire bodies. Demon, Rocktin muttered with eyes filled with fear.

“What, what is it? Could it be... that you’re a high-level demon or something...?”

At the same time, the demon who was struggling while being held by Sylvia's hand glanced at her face from under her hood and opened his eyes wide in shock. The pale skin was clearly different from the demon's. The white irises were white.

“This, human...?”

The demons who had been holding their breath erupted like a flood at those words.

"What?"

“What nonsense is that?”

“How do humans enter Kelvetia?”

“Even if that is true, how can a human being... see the darkness?”

But Sylvia acted as if she didn't hear any of that commotion. Her mind was completely focused on one thing. Sylvia showed the Belfort family crest in her hand and sternly threatened the demon.

“Who did you steal this from?”

“Ugh! What are you all... just watching! She's human! Get her!”

The demons who had been struggling ugly and groaning belatedly broke free of their instinctive fear and awe and shouted at their surroundings with bloodshot eyes. The standoff was broken by that shout. The demons rushed toward Sylvia without exception at the word “human.”

“Die!”
.“I don’t know what happened, but if I catch that human and offer him up, I can become a mid-level demon too!”

“Go away, damn it! That’s mine!”

The demons rolled their eyes and swung darkness at Sylvia. The tavern became a mess in an instant. 

Crunch!

“Eww!”

Thud!

“This, how can a human...! Keuk!”

However, the demons who had been curious about Sylvia's human nature and rushed to her soon realized that their judgment was completely wrong.

‘What the heck is this...!’

Rocktin rolled on the floor, avoiding countless black arrows pouring down from the air. The arrows that rained down just in time mercilessly pierced the floor of the tavern and the ankles of the demons before disappearing. He stared blankly at the scene unfolding inside the tavern. His heart pounded inappropriately for the situation.

‘...Overwhelming.’

The Demons are a race that worships power more purely than any other race and follows that power. Rocktin felt a shiver from the darkness that surrounded Sylvia and even covered the entire tavern. It was as if the Demon Lord Alyssa had felt that way during her prime. However, he did not have time to admire it for long.

“...!”

While Rocktin was admiring Sylvia's abilities in the corner, Sylvia felt his gaze and threw away the collar of the demon's robe that she was holding in her hand and stared in his direction. The red light in the center of the golden eyes was eerie. Rocktin kicked the ground in instinctive eeriness. Immediately after, a black spear flew in with a thud and scattered where he had been. He raised the corners of his mouth with an emotion that could be fear or joy and pulled up the darkness.

'I can't help it. I didn't want to bring in more competitors, but since it's come to this...!'

Kwaang! 
.The wall of the tavern shattered with a loud noise. Rocktin rolled through a very small gap that Sylvia could not reach and escaped the tavern. As soon as he got outside, he shouted loud enough to shake the town.

“There’s a human in the tavern! Everyone, come here! This is your chance to become a mid-level demon!”

"What?"

“A human?”

"Opportunity!"

At first, the demons frowned and did not believe Rocktin’s words, but when they heard the words ‘a chance to become an intermediate demon’, they could not give up hope and ran towards her. Sylvia looked at the demons who were starting to gather outside the window with a blank expression and left the tavern. Rocktin pointed in the direction where Sylvia had disappeared and stirred up the people.

“Chase her! She went into the forest! If you catch that human and bring her to the palace, you can become a mid-level demon!”

“Get out of my way!”

“Me first!”

“It’s hunting time! Everyone come out!”

Sylvia ran into the forest to avoid the oncoming demons. She was confident that she could face them without avoiding them. However, the problem was that they were all calling out their followers and drawing in other demons, and their numbers were rapidly increasing.

'I can't do it with this body.'

Sylvia glanced down at her body as she ran into the forest. When she was Alyssa, her body had been trained to a certain extent through her own training and battles, so she could survive among the oncoming demons, but not now. Even though she had become healthier than before thanks to Randall’s nutritious food, she was barely ‘healthy.’ If she continued to fight in the middle of the village with that body, there would be no end to it. So she thought she would rather run into the forest, stop the demons who were following her, and disappear.

“Kwaaak!”

Keeeeek! 

Sylvia swung her hand, looking back every now and then as she delved into the forest. Every time she swung her hand, at least three monsters and one demon would scream and fall to the ground. Of course, she didn’t take their lives. She had come to Kelvetia solely to sign a peace treaty with the demons, so she could have messed things up if she had killed the monsters or demons rashly. 

While she was immobilizing the demons one by one, wounds began to appear on her body. Someone’s arrow had grazed her head, causing blood to flow down her eye. It didn’t seem like a lie that the demons had developed over the long years. She also realized once again how shabby a demon Rapold was.

“...”

Before she knew it, she had reached the end of the forest. Sylvia stopped walking, took a deep breath, and looked down. Below her feet was a steep cliff. She could see the stream flowing menacingly below the cliff.

“Got it!”

“Everyone gets out of the way? I was the first one to find that guy!”

Rocktin, who had succeeded in drawing in his own kind and driving Sylvia to a dead end, proudly pushed the demons away and stood at the front.



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