Across the Demon Kingdom, the Northern Edge of the territory was much quieter than the Capital that was being built.
Here, nothing special really happened, and everyone would just go about their days. A lone laborer, a Wolf Demi-Human was trudging along a dirt road leading to the small town he lived in, his shoulders hunched beneath the weight of his hall.
He had well over a handful of skinned Demon Beasts bound together by a thick rope, their horns and claws clattering with each step.
He had dried blood all over his skin, streaked with mud and ash from the Cursed Beast Forest he'd just come from hunting in.
He walked for a while before he spotted a familiar marker on the side of the road, signifying that he was near the town. The wolf demi-human adjusted the rope cutting into his shoulder and exhaled slowly, ears twitching as familiar scents reached him.
Ahead, three other figures emerged from the tree line, all hunters just like him.
A horned orc woman dragged a cart with only two carcasses inside while a lean lizardman carried a single skinned beast over his back. The last was a broad-shouldered goblin with a sack that looked rather light for his perceived strength.
The trio slowed as they saw him.
"Rough haul?" the goblin asked, eyeing the bundle on the wolf's back.
"Better than yesterday," the wolf Demi-Human replied, shifting his grip, "Still not what it used to be."
The orc snorted as he heard that, "Tell me about it. The Cursed Beast Forest's gone real quiet these recently,"
They all stopped as they heard that.
"Three weeks ago I'd barely make it ten steps without something trying to rip my throat out," The lizardman said, tail flicking, "Now? Half the trails are empty. I can't find a bloody pack to save my life. Even the Cursed Variants are rare now,"
"Which means less meat," the goblin muttered, "Less cores, less body parts and less fucking money, whatever's happening ain't kind on my pockets that's for sure,"coin."
The wolf's ears flattened slightly. "You think the forest's dying?"
"No," the orc said grimly, "The forest is sustained by the Curse, at-least that's what Grandpa Shen said. It shouldn't be dying randomly,"
She glanced north, toward lands none of them liked thinking about.
"It's probably the Heroes," she continued, "Every time they march through, beasts flee or get wiped out. They're determined to just destroy everything in their path,"
The lizardman hissed under his breath as he thought of them, "Divine pests."
For a moment, the mood darkened between all of them aside from the goblin, whose eyes lit up as he thought about something.
"Hey," he said eagerly, lowering his voice as if someone might overhear, "You heard the rumors, right?"
The wolf glanced at him, "What rumors?"
"That we've got a new Demon King," the goblin said, barely containing his excitement. "Came down from the Goddesses themselves, and even building a Capital, real strong one, apparently,"
The orc raised a brow, "Every few decades that rumor flies around that the Goddesses sent someone down, never happens,"
"This one's different," the goblin insisted, "My cousin's friend's uncle's brother's nephew trades near the Cathedral, and promised me he saw the Demon King himself, and he even saw him giving orders to Orianna and the Dragons,'
The wolf slowed a fraction, golden eyes sharp. "Dragons? No way those arrogant beasts take orders from any random dude, maybe that rumor is actually true this time,"
"Yeah," the goblin nodded, "They say he's already reorganizing things, talking about cities and protection, actual plans,"
The lizardman let out a low chuckle as he heard that, "If that's true… maybe the Heroes won't be walking through our lands so freely anymore. Once those pests are gone, I'll be back to making money,"
"Just for you to blow it all at Sharon's," The Orc woman said.
"Hey, it's not every day you get to be with a Succubus," The Lizardman retorted immediately with a defensive tone.
The wolf looked ahead, the wooden gates of their town just coming into view, "Let's just hope all of this is true, I can't stand these bloody Heroes,"
The group finally arrived near the town, the familiar silhouette of the wooden gates easing some of their tension.
Smoke curled lazily above the rooftops of most of the buildings, causing the Wolf Demi-Human to frown with confusion.
"That wasn't there this morning," he muttered.
The orc woman squinted, nostrils flaring. "That's not cooking smoke."
A second later, they got their explanation.
~BOOM!~
A pillar of blinding white light slammed down inside the town, erupting in a deafening explosion. Stone, wood, and bodies were hurled into the air as if swatted aside by an invisible god.
The ground bucked beneath their feet.
~BOOM~BOOM~BOOM!~
Another blast followed, then another and another. Endless blasts of vicious holy light slammed into the City. The wind carried the intense screams of the town's citizens, before they were all cut short.
The hunters froze for half a heartbeat, then their instincts immediately took over. The wolf dropped his haul without hesitation, skinned beasts hitting the dirt with wet thuds. "Holy shit, "
~BOOM!~
A shockwave rolled outward, flattening a row of houses near the gate. White & Gold Flames erupted across the city, devouring various buildings.
"That's holy magic," the lizardman hissed, eyes wide, "Heroes."
As if summoned by the word, figures poured into view between the ruined streets.
Knights clad in radiant armor marched in disciplined lines, shields glowing with engraved runes. Blades of light carved through anything in their path.
They were the Knights of the Holy Order, the loyal servants of the Goddess of Light, and the Hero Party's Legion of Subordinates.
The Knights didn't slow down at all.
A family tried to flee across the square, but when a Holy Knight saw that, he simply raised his sword and light flash, and when the light dissipated, the family was gone, replaced by ash.
The goblin staggered back, bile rising in his throat. "No, no, that's Old Bren's house…"
The orc woman grabbed him by the collar and yanked him behind a shattered stone wall as another explosion tore through the market district.
"We can't fight this," she snarled. "Run!"
"Alert everyone!" the wolf shouted. "Get to the outskirts, hide, anything!"
They split without another word, scattering into side streets choked with dust and fire.
The wolf vaulted over a fallen beam, ears ringing as a holy blade sliced the air where his head had been a second earlier. He didn't look back as he ran off, desperate to avoid the certain doom that was being caught by one of these Knights.
The goblin vanished into an alley, sobbing curses under his breath while the lizardman ran alongside the wolf for a time, clutching a bloodied spear scavenged from the ground.
"We have to reach the river path," the lizardman panted. "If we, "
Before he could continue that sentence, a pressure like the weight of the sky pressed down on them, and then, all they could hear was footsteps.
"No," the lizardman whispered.
A figure stepped through the smoke. Unlike the knights, this one wore lighter armor, etched with gold sigils that pulsed softly. A longsword rested on his shoulder, its edge burning with condensed radiance.
A Hero.
The wolf felt his legs go cold, "Don't sto—!"
The Hero moved.
He was suddenly there and the sword came down in a single, flawless arc.
The lizardman didn't even get the opportunity to scream as light passed through his torso, clean and precise. His body slid apart a heartbeat later, halves collapsing into the ash-covered street.
Blood steamed where it touched the glowing stone. The wolf stumbled, choking on his breath as something inside him snapped.
Behind him, the Hero flicked the blade once, blood evaporating into sparks.
"Another one," the Hero said calmly, eyes already searching for his next target as the Wolf Demi-Human ran away.
Behind him, the town burned, and the Northern Edge of the Demon Kingdom drowned in holy light.
***
Meanwhile, back at the Cathedral, Jax was training, practicing some new spells that he created drawing inspiration from various anime and TV shows he had watched in his past life.
Most of it had been a success, but now he was tweaking the unsuccessful ones, trying to fix them, when all of a sudden, Sabrina pushed open the door and entered the room in a very hurried pace.
Spotting him here, her eyes lit up and she immediately said, "Hey, we've finally got a sighting of the Heroes, they're at the Northern Edge of the Kingdom. They're attacking Vyxfold Town, and there's already been casualties,"
Sabrina's eyes dimmed slightly as she said that last part.
However, Jax hearing that, had his eyes light up, his body flashed and the Demon Emperor Combat Set appeared on him.
"Killian, Alice, looks like it's time we meet," Jax said with a smirk, and in an instant, he vanished, teleporting towards the Northern Edge of the Demon Kingdom.
Finally, he would confront the Heroes!