Chapter 9 Welcome to Haria Kingdom

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“This sword is very sharp. You should buy it, sir!” one merchant offers a silver sword that has magic imbued with it.

“Three apples.” A demon hunter wearing armor buys three apples from a stall in the market. “That will be five silver coins, ma’am.” the merchant replied, and the demon hunter paid her with five silver coins.

“The dagger looks so cool!” One demon hunter exclaimed as he saw the dagger's blade glowing in blue color. He was about to grab it but stopped when another demon hunter shouted at him. “Hey! This is mine! Look for something else!” The first demon hunter that saw it first got mad and shouted at him as well.“What? I saw it first!” They are now glaring at each other.

“So this is the market of the Haria Kingdom?” Zerha asked in amusement. It looks normal. Well, except they are selling weapons. She thought.

“Yes. We should be careful, Master. There are demon hunters everywhere.” Foxy said as she looked at the people who were carrying weapons.

“Don’t tell me they can tell that we are not humans?” Zerha asked nervously.

“No. But I heard that there is a demon hunter that can tell that you are not human even though you’re wearing a disguise.” Garren replied.

“What if we bump into them?” And worst they'll kill me!!! Zerha panicked.

“Then let’s just kill them!” Garren answered aggressively.

“Garren is right. Your safety is our priority!” Foxy agreed.

“J-just calm down. We shouldn’t make trouble while we are here." I'm a demon now, I should stay low now that we are in a place where humans kill demons, Zerha thought. “By the way, we should find a place to stay.” I don't want to stay in the Demon Kingdom, I'm afraid of demons!! Zerha thought feeling chills.

“Let me find it for you, Milady. There is a wooden bench over there. You should rest there with them. I’ll come back when I’ve found a place to stay.” Sage suggested.

“Well, are you sure? Now that I think about it, I’m exhausted from that long walk. Phew!”

“Yes. I will go now, Milady.”

“Mm. Be careful.”

After Sage left, Zerha just noticed that Ecanus was no longer with them. Huh? “Guys, where’s Ecanus?”

“Huh? He was right beside me earlier.” Garren said, looking to his left.

“Whoa! This poison dagger is cool!” They all turned their heads at the sound of Ecanus’ voice. They saw the angel at one of the stalls that were selling weapons.

“Young man, if you buy this I’m sure you can defeat demons easily! This poison dagger has venom from the serpent you’ll find in the cave of the forbidden forest. My son is the one who put the venom in this dagger!” The merchant presented the dagger to Ecanus, who was nodding in amusement. The merchant pushes the button on the holder of the dagger and suddenly the blades from the dagger release drops of acid. Ecanus sparkled looking at it.

“Why do I feel that it’s a scam?” Zerha suddenly said.

“Huh?” Garren asked.

“I mean, I feel that the merchant is lying,”

“You are right, Master. She said that venom is from the serpent in my cave, but no one except you defeated that serpent.” Garren replied.

“I’m sure of it. That is just an ordinary poison.” Foxy chimed in.

“Idiot! Don’t buy such a useless weapon!” Garren shouted suddenly.

My gosh! Why did he say it out loud? Now the merchant looks furious with us! Zerha thought.

“You. My weapons are not useless! Go away! How dare you say that about my precious weapons?” She said, trembling in anger.

“W-we are so sorry, Ma’am,” Zerha tried to apologize, though the merchant was still angry with them. “Hmph! Go away!”

“Useless dragon! Why did you stop me? I can kill a demon with that thing!” Ecanus shouted.

“Idiot! She’s lying to you; that is just a regular poison she used! You can’t kill demons with those!”

“O-oh, i-is that so…” Ecanus suddenly flushed with embarrassment.

Pfft, Ecanus is so cute. Zerha thought.

.....

-The same time Haria Castle -

“Where is Leo?” This question came from Luke, the commander of demon hunters.

“Sir Leo and his subordinates went to the forbidden forest to hunt demons and beasts, Sir Luke,” one of the demon hunters answered with respect.

“His Highness wants him to hunt some mid-level demon. Since he’s already hunting in the forbidden forest, I will go now. When they arrive, inform me immediately. I will be at the prince’s room.”

“Will do, Sir Luke.”

Luke left and went to the prince’s room. He knocked on the door but no one answered.“Where could he be?” he mumbled and left.

While walking down the hall, he glanced outside and noticed that the prince was practicing his power, which was fire. He went there to observe him for a while. His fire ability is too weak. I wonder if that’s all he’s got. No, he has potential. As his uncle and master, I’ll make him powerful! Luke thought adamantly.

“Did you try to create a fire tornado as I told you, Clove?” he asked.

“Uncle, you’re here!” The Prince greeted politely.

“I see that you’re training… But why here? Do we not have a training grounds?”

“Yes. I don’t want to be weak, or Father will be mad at me again. And people are training there. I heard them speaking badly about me.” He said while lowering his head.

“What? Tell me, who are they?” How dare they insult my nephew!

“Forget it, Uncle. Oh right, Uncle. I tried to create a fire tornado but I can’t control it.”

Luke sighed. “Can you show me how you do it?”

“Yes.”

Clove started to create a small tornado with his hand. It was slowly turning big and powerful. “Keep it up. Stay calm. Try to control it!” Luke shouted. Clove was feeling excited at the thought that he could already control his power. But because he was too excited, the tornado grew to a massive size; the wind became stronger; all the things and leaves were swallowed by it.

“Gaaah! Uncle! What should I do? The wind and fire are too strong; I can’t control it!”

“Goodness! C-calm down, Clove! Make it stop!” Fear crept into Luke’s heart as he grabbed a tree branch so that he would not be blown away. T-this is too powerful! Be strong, tree branch! Don’t snap! Luke thought as the fire tornado grew stronger.

“I-I’m trying… I can’t stop it! Waaah!”

The tornado grew more and more powerful, and the branch that Luke was holding onto snapped. Sh*t, now I’m dead. I shouldn’t have taught him that tornado skill yet. Luke suddenly thought in remorse. “Ahhh!” Luke shouted as the wind blew him in the direction of the fire tornado that Clove made. Clove was shocked when he saw that his uncle was already inside the tornado.

“Uncle! Don’t die! I’ll try to control it!” Clove panicked, which made it even more difficult for him to control his ability. Moments later, Clove ended up being swallowed by it. “Ahhh! Uncle! Help!”

“Sorry, kid, but I can’t get out of here!” Luke started to feel dizzy. Then he was suddenly hit by a tree branch. “Ack-” he groaned.

“Ahhh! Uncle! Don’t die!”

Meanwhile, in the king’s study room, the scent of something burning filled the king’s nostrils. He looked outside and his eyes widened upon seeing a powerful fire tornado in his backyard. He opened his window, and with merely one snap of his fingers, the fire tornado was gone. He was startled when Luke and Clove suddenly fell to the ground and looked burned. “What are you two doing?”

Luke was coughing as he spoke. “W-we’re so sorry, your Highness. Clove is just training.”

“Heal yourselves.” The King said.

“Clove is getting more and more powerful; that’s great.” The King said happily as he sat down on his chair.

Suddenly, a black shadow appeared on his body. The black shadow’s red eyes were piercing those of the king. “Why are you looking at me like that? Isn’t it great that he’s getting stronger? As the prophecy said, he will defeat the strongest demon.”

“Yeah, it’s very, very great.” That’s why I need to get rid of him. This fatuous king doesn’t know I’m ‘that’ strong demon, a devil to be exact. The shadow thought with an evil grin and vanished.

....

Luke helped Clove to stand up. They were making their way to the healer when Luke saw Clavin, the demon hunter he spoke of earlier, is with two other demon hunters beside him.

The three were surprised to see their commander looking like he had just gotten toasted. Luke frowned when he noticed that they were doing their best to hold back laughter. “Ahem… What is it?” Luke asked pretending he was not embarrassed.

“T-they were the ones who accompanied sir Leo to hunt demons, sir,” Clavin holding back his laugh.

“Where is Leo?” Luke asked the two demon hunters.

“Sir Luke, Sir Leo is d-dead.” All of them were shocked by these words.

“What? Uncle Leo is strong. How could he die?” Clove remarked.

“Are you sure about that? Did you encounter a high-level demon?” Luke asked.

“She is most likely a high-level demon. She’s so strong that she even melted Sir Leo!”

“Even his bones were melted!”

A demon that can melt a human? I have never heard of a demon that uses that kind of ability. Luke thought. “You three, wait for me at the demon hunter’s meeting room,” Luke told them before he headed to the healer’s room, followed closely by Clove.

“Hello, Jane,” Luke greeted the healer as they entered the room.

“Pfft, Luke, you look like sh*t! Bwahaha!”

“Shut up! Heal Clove first.” Luke's face flushed as he is embarrassed.

While Jane was tending to Clove’s burns, Luke asked Jane if she had already encountered a demon that had a melting ability.

“Does a demon with such an ability exist?”

“Leo is already dead. His members told me that a demon melted him.”

“What? Leo is dead? I can’t believe it! They must be lying!”

“How could they lie? They are Leo’s loyal subordinates. They said they encountered a demon that can melt a person.”

Clove stood up after Jane finished healing his wounds. Luke sat down on the chair in front of Jane, who began mending his injuries.

“You may leave now, Clove. I need to go to the meeting room after this.” Clove nodded at Luke and exited the room.

Clove walked straight to his room and took a bath. After donning some clothes, there was a knock on his door. “Father?” he said as he opened the door. The king walked inside the room and sat down.

“Come here.”

“What is it, Father?”

Clove walked up to his father despite noticing his strange behavior. But as he got closer, he suddenly lost the ability to move. Clove looked at his father to ask what happened to him, why he suddenly couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak either, as if something was preventing him from speaking. He was looking at his father for help, though Clove suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness. The king put his hand above Clove’s head and started to absorb the young man’s fire ability.

“What an amazing power! Now, you are no longer of use to me.” The king said and ended the life of his son.

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