Outside the city, from a cliff overlooking the ruins, the rumbling had long stopped, but no one dared to get inside yet.
From the nineteen knights, only five had survived. All the coachmen had perished.
Those who remained were only Faller, Hamon, Gary, and two other knights. Earlier, Gary had taken one of the horses and ridden ahead. Though he wasn't unscathed, he was the least injured, and he needed to reach the nearest territory to summon reinforcements.
Now, he raced along the dirt path, the horse thundering beneath him, groaning in pain with every jolt, yet pressing forward like a bolt of lightning.
Meanwhile, Zayn was lying on top of a stone with a mat on. He seemed unconscious but uninjured.
"Hey, wake up!" the fat knight were shaking him. "Kid, come on, you're the only one who can give us answers!"
'Why the hell would I wake up? I will not move from here for two days if necessary!' Zayn muttered internally, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.
Jane approached and knelt beside him, frowning at Hamon who backed away from the girl. She gently adjusted his position, easing his head off the stone and resting it against her thigh so he looked more comfortable.
'Thank you, Jane.' Zayn cried to himself.
Ellie then spoke calmly. "At this point, the battle must be over. Should we go check now?"
"But we don't know what had happened yet," Mike replied nervously.
"Actually, what are we even doing here? Let's just go. The demon lord obviously won. No matter how strong that kid is, he's facing a demon lord—a demon lord!" the one surviving knight muttered.
Faller didn't open his mouth. His fists were clenched as his gaze was locked on the crumbled town walls.
"Tell me," someone asked silently beside him. It was Corre who was busy arranging the magic inside his body into place, "… who do you think won?"
"I don't care," Faller replied grimly. "I'm not here to gawk. I'm here to see if I can recover my men. That's all."
Then movement caught their attention.
A lone figure carrying no weapon had walked out of the town gates, walking steadily.
"It's… him."
"Who?"
"The mysterious boy."
"Ard…?"
'Ard, you beat him. Now get here and explain!' Zayn said to himself.
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Soon, the sounds of the hooves of horses galloping down the cliff could be heard. I narrowed my eyes and zoomed in. I could see the knights and adventurers riding horses, while on top of the cliff. By narrowing my eyes, I could see Zayn laying down a rock with the doctor.
'Did he get injured or is that boy just asleep?' I thought to myself.
Then two horses carrying the surviving knights and adventurers arrived.
"What happened?" Faller asked first, his voice serious, sharp, but tinged with restrained suspicion while riding his black stallion.
It was the first time we had spoken to each other. His gaze was as serious as ever but compared to usual, right now, there was some hostility in his eyes. Looking at the situation, I didn't dare to step closer as it might provoke him and the others and spoke from where I was standing.
"The baron… has perished."
"What you mean the baron has perished?"
"Well, I'm talking about the Demon Lord of course, I killed him."
A wave of relief went through the men hearing this.
It was understandable. They were betting on the human to win!
But it wasn't total relief.
"Are you sure?"
I sighed.
As powerful as he probably looked when they were still inside the town, a demon lord is a demon lord.
Unlike when one says demon lord, he doesn't have that reputation. He was no hero and just a suspiciously strong stranger. They do not understand his abilities nor aware of who he was.
All they saw was that he can use physical reinforcement magic which made him faster and stronger at face than anyone in their group. He was a martial artist, but at the same time, a mage of the Shadow attribute. But they weren't able to watch the full battle.
Standing there, seeing the victor, a mix of emotions crossed their faces. Especially after seeing how the victor looked like at the end of the battle.
"Demons can possess humans under certain conditions," Faller said slowly, scrutinizing me from head to toe. "Yet… you're barely scratched. After going up against a Demon Lord, you're… practically unharmed."
I felt a faint twinge of regret to that part I overlooked. Yet I narrowed my eyes making them increase their guard and flinch.
'Should I have come back with just my right hand?' I wanted to say but chose not to.
I then raised my hand—and Faller's hand frantically shot out.
"Don't come closer!"
Him shouting almost scared me. Truly.
He then revealed the circular device he was holding and pressed it. It was clearly the demon detecting device. Seeing that still pisses me off and for some reason the irritation showed on my face, alerting them.
'I won't attack you.' I said inwardly.
I could feel their mild panic radiating.
"Sorry… Ard," Mike then said, scratching the back of her head, his voice sheepish.
"It's just a precaution." Corre added.
Looking at it now, these people were more than hurt. It was a miracle they had lived and have complete limbs. It was a testament to the mana within them I guessed.
I glanced down the Ring of Suppression and looked at them.
"It's fine," I replied evenly. "I understand."
The demon-detecting device flickered uselessly once more.
Hamon squinted at me for a long moment—then broke into his usual warm smile, the tension finally draining from his shoulders.
'What a relief, he is just an absurdly strong person.' He thought.
Corre also let out a low relieved laugh and hopped off his horse. Ellie then walked over to me and casually draped an arm over my shoulders as if we'd known each other for years. "You did good!"
I looked at her face. She could barely stand too.
"So," she said with a grin, "ever thought about joining an adventurer party? What about ours? It's called the Iron Brigade!"
It was the first time I heard the name of the party.
Mike's eyes lit up, clearly pleased by the idea.
"No," I answered immediately.
I had been asked that same question multiple times in my life. Every time actually. When I first traveled to the human realm, I entertained it and registered as an adventurer and did join a few parties here and there.
But I have decided what to do now.
That part of me was over.
Now, I want to live normally.
Most of the knights were also relieved. But then Faller while also relieved wasn't as friendly.
"I'll acknowledge your contribution," he said. "When the Duke asks me what happened here, I'll tell him the truth and asks that he rewards you justifiably."
Then his eyes hardened.
"But if you had shown your strength from the beginning, my subordinates, the kind doctor, the coachmen, probably no one wouldn't have died."
That was all.
A heavy silence followed. Throats bobbed as everyone swallowed, eyes drifting toward me.
In the end, I was still the one who had gone toe-to-toe with a Demon Lord—an existence capable of razing a city alone. If I wished it, killing everyone here would be effortless, isn't it?
"Why are you upsetting him?" Corre hissed.
Without waiting for a response from me, Faller turned.
Now that he was closer, he had confirmed it. 'I could not sense any more demonic energy. Is the Demon Lord truly gone? If so, I need to recover Lord Lewis' body—and the bodies of my fallen subordinates. They deserve proper graves.'
He led the two knights into the city, while riding their horses.
I watched them go.
Before, I wouldn't have cared.
I had never cared about opinions—especially human ones. Yet this time, irritation stirred in my chest.
'In the end, the strong kill the weak. That held true.'
I wasn't wrong on that but that old knight wasn't entirely wrong either.
"Don't worry about them. If not for you, we would have all died." Mike then said while looking at the city walls.
Seeing Faller and the others past by me, those others from a little far then came too. I kept my expressions neutral and calm. But this time, just like before the fight, a strange, unfamiliar feeling lingered. I brushed my slightly long hair aside, tucking a few strands behind my ear and sighed.
Then, suddenly—
The remaining horse came galloping in from the distance. As the riders dismounted, the female archer also hopped off her horse with practiced ease before running straight toward me.
'…'
Before I could even refuse, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a tight embrace. I felt the soft mountains around her chests pressing on me along with the sound of her heartbeat drumming loudly.
"Ard!" she said softly, as her face titled up to smile up at me.
'What is this?'
For a moment, I didn't know where to put my hands.
At the same time, Zayn stirred awake.
While riding the horse, Hamon flinched in surprise—he had been smiling idly at the youths—but now he was looking at the boy and is convinced Zayn probably had been conscious the entire time. His smile slowly stiffened and formed lines.