Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

9. Hunting Devils (3)

As Erebus took down the officer, the captain cut away the log and glowered at the new corpse with a dark look. His eyes snapped towards Erebus, but he had no words. He only growled and jumped towards Erebus.

Erebus' eyes widened when he saw the speed of the Devil. He tried to jump outside the sword's reach, but the blade tip sliced him across his stomach.

Like his shoulder, it wasn't a deep wound, but troubling. Erebus threw one of the swords in his hand toward the captain's blind spot. The captain sensed the incoming blade and moved to dodge it. The Devil miscalculated the speed and felt it stab into his shoulder. He quickly pulled it out with a grunt but was distracted enough to allow Erebus to jump and swing down his sword on the Devil's arm.

But instead of slicing through, Erebus heard a click of metal hitting metal and cursed, knowing that the captain was wearing gauntlets. The captain swiped his arm toward Erebus, slamming him in the chest. Erebus fell backward and coughed up blood from the impact.

Erebus threw his body to the side as he saw the captain following up with another strike. Erebus blended into the shadows, but unfortunately, his blood permeated the air, and the captain could find his location easily. The blade crashed towards him again. But this time, Erebus jumped towards the attack in a crouching position. The knife missed him by a hair, and Erebus stabbed his blade into the thigh of the captain.

He pulled out the last blade in his possession and followed up with a slice across the captain's other thigh, making him fall to his knees. The Devil's sword clattered on the ground. Erebus turned, and the blade of his short sword sliced across the captain's throat.

Erebus watched as the life drained from the captain's eyes, and he sighed with relief. The battle was hard won and a blistering reminder of his weakness. At least this battle helped his cultivation. He could feel his mana coursing through his body, stronger than ever.

He rummaged through the captain's clothes and found a small pouch hanging from his waist. He grabbed it and smiled with satisfaction. It was a small spatial pouch made from magic and runes, allowing him to store items without worrying about bulk or weight. Now that it was ownerless, he could open it and claim it as his own. He quickly transferred his things to the pouch and sealed it with his mana. He also pulled the cores from the captain and the other Devils but mainly focused on stealing their coins and short swords. He was disappointed to find that none of the Devils had daggers.

When he cleaned the area, he checked the captain's tent and found some official documents. Not wanting to linger, he threw most of the items he figured could be valuable into the pouch. He paused when he saw a key on the captain's desk. He breathed out with relief, knowing this was to the cage holding the prisoners.

He approached the back and saw the five people huddled together and shaking. He was sure the screams and fighting frightened them terribly.

Erebus sighed when he saw a teenager holding four younger children aged five to about ten.

Erebus tilted his head and used the key to unlock the cage. The boy pushed the children behind him and glared at Erebus. "What do you want from us?"

Erebus smiled inwardly to see the bravado of the child. He tossed one of his maps toward the boy. "Is there a human civilization nearby?"

Erebus's voice was hoarse and gravelly. He hadn't talked much since he started this new life. Unfortunately, he only recently used the Devils' language, which was challenging to speak with a human tongue and strained his vocal cords.

The boy looked at the map but kept up his vigilance. "What are you? What do you want with the humans?"

It dawned on Erebus that the boy didn't realize that he fought on the side of humans. Erebus pulled the hood off his head and hesitated before removing the mask covering his face.