Chapter 115: Thanks, Derek

Derek crouched in the dark, hoping the dirt on his face and the general dark hues of his clothes would keep him hidden. Hunting during the daytime, he had found, was a waste of time. There just wasn’t enough shrubbery to sneak through on the demon side of the human/demon border. The best he could hope for was to be seen a mile off and either be forced to fight with a ready group of demons or to chase down a lone, defenseless creature that would scream and flee until it ran into reinforcements.

Waiting by the road in the dark was better. There was less traffic during the night, but that didn’t mean that demons could keep off the roads entirely. They sent messengers. They hauled cargo. Sometimes, they even looked like they were just going on walks, a strangely human-like behavior in demons. Some demons didn’t need light to see, but with the exception of a few types, they saw much better with it than without it, just like humans.

Which meant they often carried torches, as the approaching pigeon demon did. Pigeon demons were not, luckily, all that strong. They mostly worked as messengers and merchants, with only the bravest of their type becoming mediocre-at-best warriors. But they were among the meatier, more substantial demons. And Derek was hungry enough for that to matter. All of the group was.

As the pigeon walked closer, Derek became aware it was cooing, softly and rhythmically. It was like it was humming to itself as it went down the road. He hoped that was true. Humming was not an activity he strongly associated with being alert and ready for attacks, and he hoped that assumption would hold.

It seemed to. The pigeon was either an excellent actor, or really didn’t know Derek was there. If it was the former, he proved to be a very poor tactician when he continued on into Derek’s striking range, and took a dagger to the neck as payment for his lack of defenses. Before he could leave much blood, Derek dragged him off the road and out into the darkness towards camp.

“Oh, good, you got it. Once again, really good job. Thanks, Derek.”

From Brennan, that would have been a complement that made Derek feel pretty good. It would have been validating. The fact that it came from Artemis warmed him to his core. The best way to know you weren’t an asshole anymore was to hear compliments from someone who would have had no hesitation in saying the truth. Derek felt as good as he could, given the circumstances.

“Thanks. You can cook it?”

“Yup. No problem.” Artemis had a scout skill that allowed, among other things, for her to conceal a fire. Other people could benefit from the fire’s warmth without breaking the illusory shroud around it, but only she could actually work with the fire or see the light from it. That made her the defacto cook for the expedition, whether any of them liked it or not. Luckily, she was a fair cook, if only a barebones one.

“I feel bad about making you take the risks by yourself, Derek. You could at least bring me along,” Brennan said.

“Nope, it’s no good. If you accidentally trigger a movement skill, it’s trouble for all of us. I can handle this, I promise. Plus, it’s been great for leveling. That will be important if we get into real trouble.”

Being in demon territory had ended up being a much worse situation than they had thought. They expected to be in life-and-death battles. And they also expected to have to earn every inch of their return to human territory. But because human raids on demon territory were so rare, and were virtually always done in large forces, there was a crucial piece missing from their expectations.

And it wasn’t a small problem. Every time any of them used a skill, no matter how small, the demons could tell where they were. They didn’t know if it was because the land itself was enchanted in some way, or if the demons had some kind of soothsayer class that could detect human mana use, but any time one of them used a skill, it would alert the demons to their location.

At first, they had assumed it was just something that was happening when they fought, like the demons were sensing the deaths of other demons, or had communication methods that they couldn’t detect. The constant fighting had taken a toll on the group and left Artemis and Brennan exhausted.

It was only when the stronger two party members had set Derek on a lone enemy and observed whatever was happening from higher ground, that they figured out what was happening. Derek had slaughtered a lizard demon, and nothing happened. No enemies had come running. They had an answer.

But that left a disproportionate amount of work on Derek. Brennan’s skill usage was so tied up in everything he did that he almost always activated some portion of his skills by instinct, even when he tried to actively suppress them. Artemis had better control, but still failed occasionally and was often completely tied up with stealth, camouflage, and general scouting duties.

That left Derek, at least for non-emergency purposes. It was dangerous, it was dark, and it was stressful. Any time he stepped out of camp might be his last. And despite that, he was loving every minute of it. It wasn’t like it would have been back when he was Asadel, where he felt like he deserved the responsibility, and it made him important. Now, it was just proof that his hard work had paid off. He was useful, and he was helping people. Even just one demon slayed was one less enemy to deal with, and meant his friends could eat.

Brennan sighed. “Yeah, I guess you are right. Still, it feels bad just… sitting. I never just sit. I should be out there, warning our people. The demons have this whole super weapon in play, and nobody knows, and it’s my fault.”

Artemis turned her head away from the fire, where she had set a giant chunk of pigeon meat to cook on a spit. “It’s not your fault. If anything, the reason there was an Espilon colony to blow up in the first place was because you’ve kept it safe so many times.” She slowly turned the chunk of meat over, letting the other side cook. “There was no way to know there would be something like this. There never has been before. Something has broken the balance.”

Derek’s ears perked up. This was new to him. “What’s that?”

Brennan glanced at Artemis. “Shh.”

“No shh. Tell him. He’s earned it.”

Brennan began to argue, then regarded Derek seriously for a moment before he motioned him towards his tent, and entered it himself. Derek looked at Artemis, confused. She nodded encouragingly at him, and shooed him away with her hand. He shrugged and went.

It was beyond cramped in the tent. This was clearly a structure designed for one person, or maybe two if they didn’t mind getting pretty close. With two full-sized men, it was packed full to bursting. Still, Brennan made Derek drop the flaps on the tent as soon as he was fully in.

“So. Sorry about the tent. There are reasons, trust me.” Brennan did something funny with one of the supports of the tent, causing the temperature of the air in it to cool down to a comfortable level. “If Artemis says you can know this, you can know. But don’t freak out.”

“Know what?” Derek had spent the majority of the last few days killing, fleeing from or eating crazy animal-demons, and this was still the weirdest part of his trip so far.

“So, basically, it’s not that long of a story. But to start, do you know how long this war with the demons has been going on?”

Derek shrugged.

“Let’s just say a long time,” Brennan said. “We’ve checked the records. And at first, there wasn’t any reincarnation. The demons popped up one day, and then the system came into play and promised to help people fight it.”

Derek nodded. This part he sort of already knew.

“So then, the people started to get pretty strong. They had skills, and levels, and they were beating up the demons. And then suddenly the demons had skills and levels, and they were winning again. So the system started bringing in reincarnators. It was just one at first, and it promised that would help. And then the demons got stronger. So it brought in another reincarnator, and another, and another, and it was never enough. The war just got bigger, and both sides got more to fight with.”

“So? We just need to… I don’t know, win.”

“Easier said than done. Have you ever seen us able to do anything that wasn’t just holding on to what we have? If we take some area back, the demons take the opportunity to get some other piece. This war has been the same for decades, Derek. Same basic borders. The only thing that changes is the body count. That only gets higher.”

Derek still didn’t get it, and Brennan could evidently tell, so he kept talking.

“The thing is, if the system had given us everything at once, and it seems like it could have, we would have bulldozed the demons. You and I would have never come here, actually. It would have been over by then. But instead it gives just a little at a time, to both sides. And it keeps the fighting even. In balance. And the war never ends because it never can.”

Derek thought about it. If he was honest, it was a little weird. When he first came, he had been terrified that the next day would be the day the demons finally got the upper hand. But they never did, or at least not for very long.

“You think that balance is gone now? Because of what happened to Epsilon?”

“Yeah. That’s huge. A whole colony, at once? With no cost? There were no dead demons there, Derek. Even if they can only fire that weapon or spell or whatever it is once a year, it’s all over. It’s only a matter of time.”

“That doesn't make sense, though. If the system wants balance to keep us fighting, it has to be for some reason. It gets something out of it, or something. Why change now?”

Brennan fiddled with the climate control, suddenly making the air circulate in the tent a bit more. “That we don’t know. Something must have changed. Something big. We didn’t get stronger, I think. Something else happened that the system is adjusting for. I just don’t know what it could be.”

—

Out of the tent, each of the team members sat picking at giant hunks of pigeon meat as they went over their plans. Since their plans mainly had to do with escape, the meeting was mostly led by Artemis.

“So we are here. The closest city of any kind is actually demon, of course, here. And our chance, such as it is, is here. We will have to wait for a good break in the troops, but this is where the watch is weakest, and we should be able to break through even if we get caught.”

“How long to get back, Artemis? To somewhere where we can send a message of warning.” Brennan’s brow was furrowed as he looked at the map Artemis had scrawled in the dirt. “They have a few days lead on us, now.”

Artemis shook her head. “The closest colony to the ruins of Epsilon is Delta, right here. No matter how fast we move, we won’t make it.”

Derek watched as Brennan went silent. No matter what they did, they couldn’t run back to safety fast enough to save the next colony.

Derek thought for a moment, then pointed at the map. “What about here, instead?”

“That’s the demon city, Derek. I already said that.”

“I know.”

There was no way they could run back to the human side of the fighting in time. But if they couldn’t accomplish their goals running towards safety, they might do so by sprinting towards danger.