A place he never wanted to return to

Keita had difficulty sleeping that night. Anne and Lia were keeping watch so he felt safe in their hands. He was stressed for another reason. Koba had stayed up, discussing with the girls about their next move. He couldn't hear them but he couldn't help but worry. No matter what he had said last night, he didn't want to fight or die alone. If they left him at this point, he wasn't sure if he could cling to the will to live.

Koba returned and Keita pretended to be asleep. It wasn't long before Koba was snoring but Keita still felt a knot in his stomach.

Soon, it was Reika's and Nao's turn to keep watch. They only had a couple hours before the Undead were going to catch up. The few hours of sleep, was the only rest they were going to get for a while, so the shifts were no more than an hour. Like Koba, Anne and Lia stayed a while before going to sleep to talk with the others. Soon though, they came back and Keita once again, pretended to be asleep. While still stressed and worried, he felt that he hasn't slept at all before Nao woke him up. It was still dark outside, but he could hear the Undead, making their way through the swamp.

"They are here already?" Keita asked Nao while getting up from the cold ground.

"Yeah, it's quite a sight to be honest." he responded.

Keita curiously approached the cliff, facing the East.

"How many do you think?" Lia who was already up, asked.

"I can't say... Too many." Reika responded in a relatively calm manner.

"7000. Maybe eight." Keita interjected.

Skeletons and zombies were slowly making their way towards the hill. It was full moon that night, making it easier for him to see. The swamp slowed them down considerably and a lot of them tripped over themselves, but they were still steadily advancing.

"You think maybe we can loose them during daylight?" Nao asked.

"No, I don't know how, but they will keep going after us... I mean, me, no matter what. Their formation is heading right towards us in the most straightforwards path. I don't know how or when, but Morran must have..." Keita stopped talking for a while.

"What's wrong?" Lia asked.

Keita begun sweating and his hands trembled.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Fuck! That bastard. Why did I agree to this!? Fuck!" Keita shouted, kicking the ground and throwing his sword to the ground.

It took him a while before he finally calmed down. His breath was rugged and his shoulders were weaving up and down. The others just watched with concerned looks.

"It's my blood! I gave Morran my blood. That's how the Undead know who to follow. I knew that some Blood-mages can track someone's location with nothing more than a few drops of blood but I still gave it to him!" Keita told the party.

That was the final nail in the coffin for Keita. Now that he knew how the Undead were following him, even when they couldn't see him, he understood how hopeless the situation was. He could not ask anyone to follow him now. No matter where he went, Morran's Undead would follow.

"Well, that doesn't change our plan, does it?" Koba suddenly asked him.

"No, it doesn't." Lia said confidently.

Keita prepared himself. If they parted ways here, at least the party would survive. That was the only small comfort he could allow himself, while going back to Demon lands. He couldn't blame them for leaving, even if he tried.

"Keita, shouldn't we be on our way? They are getting closer." Reika suddenly said.

Keita nodded his head with determination.

"You guys head North. There shouldn't be any Undead that way. I'll see you back in Atestari. We need to collect our reward for the goblins after all. And the Undead. I wonder how much we are going to get this time? Could you do me a favor and send the money from my share to my parents? I haven't send them any money lately. I-" Keita started mumbling.

"Send it yourself. We are going with you, Kei." Nao said.

Keita was stumped for a while.

"You shouldn't. There are no merits in following me. Besides, I was the one who gave my blood to Morran. This is my mess. You guys shouldn't-" his voice wavered.

"Agh, shut up already! We are all going together and that's final. Now, hurry up. We need to leave now, otherwise, our only path down the hill will be closed." Reika said.

Keita looked towards Reika, who turned her head with a 'Hmph'. He studied everyone's faces, stopping on Koba. He just shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

'Ah, that's right. That's how it used to be...' Keita thought, of his comrades of the past. How he used to always fight with Greed, how he would talk about Magic Spells for Sloth for hours, before noticing that she was asleep. How, Envy would sit with him for a cup of tee, after noticing he had a long day.

'That's right, there is no logic or merits.' he though as he smiled. For the first time, he felt that he truly belonged with this party.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

***

Morning came and Keita and the others were still running.

"How much longer?" Nao asked. He was exhausted.

"When we enter these woods, we'll be in Demon lands." Keita answered.

The woods were at the end of swamp. It was nothing more than dead trees really, deprived of all life. As they got closer to the forest of dead trees, Keita warned everyone one last time.

"Prepare yourselves. From this point on, we will be taking no breaks. If we find Demons, first I will need to access the situation. There is the possibility that they'll just ignore us. If they are too strong, we'll change directions. If something unforeseen happens, I'll tell you to run. When that happens, you all do so and don't look back. No matter what you hear behind you, you run got it?" Keita said.

The others nodded their heads in agreement. After examining everyone's faces, Keita concluded that they understood the seriousness of the situation.

They entered the woods.

Keita felt the Demon Lord's barrier, signaling her that someone has entered her domain. After the Undead had done the same, Keita called to the party.

"We are speeding up. Everyone, keep up!"

Nao, the slower of the party, grit his teeth and preserved. The fact that he left his shield behind and his breast plate crumbled, was working to his favor.

The dead forest was thinning by the second. Before they could see the end though, the ground trembled and the party stopped.

"An earthquake?" Lia asked.

Soon though, the answer came in the form of a deafening explosion.

Keita and the others, covered their ears. Keita slightly opened his eyes and what he saw took his breath away.

A black flame has burnt the woods behind them. He knew that spell. It was Abyss Eruption, a spell that caused black flames to explode underground with the same destructive power as a volcano.

'Already?' Keita thought and instantly decided on the next course of action.

"We are changing directions, this way!" he shouted and gestured with his hand. If they kept going in a straight line, they were going to be caught. "We are getting out of the woods at another location."

And so everyone collected themselves and run once again. Keita grew ever more anxious. Abyss Eruption wasn't a Spell just anyone could cast. After running for another hour or so, they exited the woods.

They stumbled onto a gravel road. It has been build by humans in ancient times, when these lands hadn't be claimed by Demons.

"Let's run a bit more and then we are turning back." Keita howled. His anxiety has reached peak levels. He felt like throwing up, just walking into these lands.

That was when it happened. A purple light, followed by eight figures emerging from it.

"Pride, welcome home." the Demon Lord has appeared.