The simple quest to Oakhaven had twisted into something from a horror story.
Reinhard appeared in an instant at the spot where he'd first heard the crying. But there was nothing there.
Just empty market stalls, the produce on them rotting and covered in flies.
A week's worth of decay. The sound was a lure.
He heard it again, the faint whimper of a child, but this time it was from a different direction entirely. He didn't waste time thinking about the trick. He simply dashed toward the new source, his movements a silent blur.
The sound led him to the largest building in the town, what looked like a town hall or a church. The crying was coming from inside.
Without a moment's hesitation, he pushed the heavy doors open and stepped in.
…
Meanwhile, the trio followed the path where they'd last seen Reinhard, moving cautiously through the silent, blood-stained streets.
They checked a few more houses along the way, hoping to find a survivor, but all they found was more of the same sickening slaughter. Everyone was dead.
Some houses were empty, which raised the terrifying possibility that the killer had dragged the inhabitants somewhere else to be killed.
Then, they heard it too, a clear, heartbreaking sob coming from the large building up ahead.
"Did you hear that?" Kaval whispered, his voice tight with fear.
"Yeah," Gido stammered. "But didn't Reinhard say it was from over there?"
"What does it matter?" Ellen hissed, pushing past them. "Let's just go, get whoever is crying and Reinhard, and get back to the guild."
"You're making it sound easy," Kaval muttered, but he followed her anyway, his sword drawn and trembling in his hand.
…
Inside the large building, Reinhard saw the source of the crying. A little girl, no older than five or six, was huddled on the floor, weeping in a pool of fresh, warm blood. Two bodies, a man and a woman, lay beside her. Her parents.
Reinhard approached her slowly, his footsteps silent on the stone floor. He knelt beside her, his expression softening.
"Are you okay?" he asked gently, then immediately realized how foolish the question was. Of course she wasn't okay.
The girl's body shook with hiccupping sobs. "Momma… D-daddy…" she cried, her little hands clenched in the fabric of their bloody clothes.
"I'm sorry," Reinhard said, his voice soft.
"It's not okay at all. I'm so sorry you have to go through something so terrible." He reached out with both hands and carefully lifted her into his arms, holding her against his chest.
Her blood immediately soaked into his pristine white uniform, staining it a deep, spreading red.
The warmth and safety of the embrace seemed to break something inside her, and she began to cry even louder, her words tumbling out between sobs.
"He… he killed Momma… and Daddy… He killed everyone… He killed my friend, too… Even the little puppy…"
What was a person supposed to say to that? Should he offer a comforting lie, tell her it would be okay? No. He chose the only truth he could offer.
"Don't worry," he said, his voice a low, steady promise. "I will avenge your mom, your dad, your friend, the little puppy, and every innocent person he has hurt."
As the girl cried into his shoulder, a new voice echoed through the hall. It wasn't coming from one direction, but from everywhere and nowhere at once, a smooth, cruel sound that slid under the skin.
"Hahahahahahaha! It is just a melody to the ears, isn't it? The crying of a child as his parents are killed in front of her. The fear, the suffering… ahhh, the pleading in their eyes as they beg you to just spare their child. I can't describe the feeling. I want to feel it again and again."
The voice continued, dripping with sadistic pleasure. "I've been playing here for over a week, and it's still not enough. Ahahahaha! But oh well. I suppose I have to fulfill the promise I made to her parents… to send their little girl to join them."
The voice disappeared, and in the silence, a figure materialized from the shadows behind Reinhard.
"You came at the right time. And your companions outside, too. I was running low on souls from this town. Thank you for bringing me a fresh delivery."
Reinhard turned slowly, the little girl still held securely in his arms. He saw the source of the voice. It had the shape of a man, but with twisted, black horns curling from its head and two large, leathery wings folded behind its back. A demon.
"A demon," Reinhard said, his voice flat.
The creature laughed, a high, piercing sound. "Yesss, a demon! And not just any demon, but an Archdemon! Prepare for despair, human, because your souls will be a fine addition to my collection!"
"Demon, Greater Demon, Archdemon," Reinhard said, his previously soft eyes now turning as cold as ice. The warmth he'd shown the girl was gone, replaced by an anger so profound it was chilling. "It doesn't really matter when you are going to die now."
The demon stopped laughing. "Hah! A human dares to raise his voice at me? Me? I like those eyes, boy. That cold stare. I wonder if you'll still have it when I kill your companions one by one and make you watch."
Instinctively, Reinhard's free hand went to the hilt of his sword. He tried to draw it, to end this monster in a single strike. But the Dragon Sword Reid wouldn't budge. It deemed this creature unworthy. And of course it was.
"Oh well," Reinhard said, his voice dangerously quiet. "My one hand is enough."
In the space between one heartbeat and the next, he vanished. The Archdemon's eyes widened in shock, he hadn't even seen him move. Before the demon could even process that he was gone, Reinhard reappeared directly at its side.
His fist connected with the demon's torso. It wasn't just a punch. It was a release of pure, raw force. A shockwave of air pressure exploded from the impact, lifting dust from the floor and causing the entire building to shake and groan like it was in an earthquake.
The demon's body hit the floor for a fraction of a second, and in the next fraction of a second, it was blasted backward like a cannonball, crashing straight through the thick stone wall of the building and disappearing into the outside air.
….
A/N: Thats all for today. Next chapter tomorrow. Look forward to the next chapter as someone important is coming. Well i have to say. This demon has ticked off reinhard in a bad way.
See you guys again tomorrow. And help this fic by commenting, reviews, power stones and getting it to too 3 in popularity and collection. And as always thanks for your support and join my discord.