I was a connoisseur of fantasy novels.
I had read thousands of titles.
For my favorite theme, of course, was the theme of transmigration to another world.
It was clichéd and seemingly boring, but it was only by reading such novels that I could feel a sense of relief.
It felt like a free-fall in the air, a release from the physically draining work and mentally draining boss's nagging.
The point was, I, like all novel readers, wanted to transmigrate into another.
I wanted to immerse myself in the various main characters so that I could experience the feeling of falling in love with various female main characters. Also, the feeling of suspense when facing life-threatening danger, and the feeling of joy when successfully completing it.
'Who would have expected that I would actually go to another world?'
- Amaranthia Kingdom, Ironhaven City, 1500 H.R. -
Right around me, the once majestic buildings had already turned into a mess of rubble.
It shouldn't be nighttime yet, but the sky above had already become pitch black without a ray of sunlight.
Was it because of the cumulonimbus clouds? Cumulonimbus clouds may indeed darken the sky, but that wasn't the cause.
The main reason the sky became so dark was because of the evil miasma that the demons kept emitting.
This fantasy continent that I was in was called Helderria.
Various fantasy creatures, such as elves, beastkin, and demons, were real on this continent.
Fantasy creatures were no longer limited to the writings I read in novels.
One of those creatures was a demon.
The demons' wings were wide open as they continued to fly above the sky. Their red eyes shone brightly as they searched for prey. Their prey, of course, was humans, the residents of Ironhaven City.
The demons screamed and laughed happily, enjoying the destruction they created.
Meanwhile, their victims had the opposite expression, screaming in pain and crying out in agony.
The once bustling city full of human activity was now completely destroyed. The buildings collapsed into rubble, and the streets were already littered with countless corpses.
The longer the time passed, the sound of the humans crying disappeared more and more, swallowed up by the sound of the demons' mad laughter.
'Considering it's already the year 1500 H.R, I've been transmigrating in this world for about ten years... It's been that long, huh.'
Amidst the ruins of the city buildings, I crouched on top of one of the buildings that was still intact.
In my hand was an arrow ready to pierce the target I was aiming for.
Thwack!
'One...'
[You gain an additional Demonic Energy Point.]
Pluck!
'Two...'
[You get additional Demonic Energy Points.]
I continued to target the demons that were flying in the air, spearing the chests of the humans from above. There were also a few demons on the ground that I was after, who were still engrossed in tearing apart human bodies from mouth to tailbone.
Even though I kept firing my arrows, their numbers didn't seem to decrease at all.
It would make sense if it were just me who was fighting off the invasion of the demons, but the people who were fighting the demon invasion weren't just me. There were also other human soldiers who joined the fight.
"Attack!"
"Don't let those demons wipe out our civilization, humans!"
The soldiers shouted like people in a trance.
The soldiers used swords, shields, spears, and various other weapons to kill the demons.
Meanwhile, the magicians used their magic spells to attack and annihilate the demons.
"How long can we survive?"
"We're finished!"
In the end, all the soldiers had one expression in common when they realized that the number of demons was not decreasing—despair!
Shiverr!
As I was intently watching my surroundings, I suddenly felt a presence behind my body.
My goosebumps automatically stood up, and I felt a sudden threat of death. I automatically jumped away in shock. When I felt that I had a safe distance, I noticed that there was already a demon there.
It had large bat wings behind its body, but unlike the other demons that had completely naked bodies, it was fully clothed like a nobleman. The skin on its body was also yellowish-white in color, like the average human on this continent.
Sniff~ Sniff~
"I can smell that woman's scent on you!" He rubbed his nose as if he had smelled a scent on my body before. "What is your relationship with that woman?"
"I don't know who you mean."
Bang!
Crash!
After hearing my answer, the demon placed its palm on my face and slammed my body down.
Not just once, but many times.
With just a simple push without seeming to make any effort, he managed to apply pressure on my body until my body fell down and crushed the building we were standing on.
In contrast to me moaning in pain on the ground after feeling the pressure of being hit by a mountain so many times, the demon with bat wings was flying leisurely above the sky.
"Urghk!" I spat out fresh blood from my mouth.
It felt very heavy, even just to take a short breath.
As I crawled on the ground, trying to get away and find a slightly safer place, that's when I realized that the air around me was already filled with the stench of rotting carcasses.
There were always human internal organs splattered on the ground as I crawled.
"Do you really not know that woman?" Reappearing behind me, hovering just above the ground, that demon continued to spout strange words. "That woman is named Noctyssa."
When I heard the name Noctyssa, that's when I stopped crawling. My body stiffened as I heard Noctyssa's name come out of that damn demon's mouth.
"Huft!" I exhaled to calm myself down and turned my body so I could stare at the demon with bat wings.
Smirk!
I pulled both ends of my lips wide. "Do you know Noctyssa?"
Honestly, I didn't expect the demon to mention Noctyssa.
Noctyssa was the woman who made me manage to survive in this world. If I hadn't met her, I would've definitely suffered before finally getting killed on the side of the road.
She taught me various things so that I could finally survive until now.
However, at some point in time, she suddenly disappeared without leaving any last words or any clues.
My life goal changed from focusing on survival to desperately wanting to meet her from then on.
'If this demon knows her, does that mean Noctyssa is a demon too?'