Club [2]

Walking out of the private room, I was hastily trying to collect my thoughts on the matter at hand, and the first thing was how incredibly strange it was for a demon to be able to infiltrate the city of Mensch without anyone noticing.

I could understand it if it was Ezral herself, who seemed to have some weird kind of way to more or less completely turn herself into a human, even to the point where Arthur didn't notice her real identity. But a random demon? No way.

Also, there was the aspect of a motive. If it was the demons, they would have been wanting to attack Arthur. But would they do so when he was with the princess, who no doubt would have bodyguards at her side?

So in the end, there was only one conclusion to be made, 'It's not the demons.'

That being said... No matter what it was, it was enough for, if my senses weren't off, two [B]-rank bodyguards to get nervous. So in the end, I couldn't allow Arthur to go out there alone. Both for Sophie's sake and for my own goals.

The hero needed to live, or at least he needed to live long enough until I could see a world where the allied races wouldn't get crushed.

Walking through the corridor where the private rooms were located, the hero couldn't help but ask, while still keeping his gaze forward, "Why did you come with me? I know you're strong, but wasn't there something wrong with your body?"

*-Boom!*

'Because you are a stubborn fool...'

Keeping myself behind the tall man, I struggled to keep my thoughts to myself and instead approached another way to tell him the truth, "Because that's what I need to do."

Turning his head for a second, I let him be greeted by a smile, something that made him quickly go back to looking forward. "You know, I don't like you."

'Where did that come from?'

Not allowing me to question him, he continued on, "It's not that I don't feel sorry for you, or that I don't think you are trying your best to do something good. But you are dragging so many people with you in your own suffering, and that, I can't agree with."

For some reason, his large back looked even larger now, and once again I was reminded how different we were, and more than that, how different our situations were.

Still, I had to agree with him to some extent. The Zero situation had escalated a lot more than I wanted it to, and there were some people that hurt a lot more than I meant for them to do. Yet, I didn't regret it. Because, ultimately, it was something that I could use.

Naturally, I wasn't about to tell the hero this, instead opting to just casually dismiss his words, "I didn't mean for that to happen, but... I also don't agree with your way of doing things. Trying to solve everything by yourself, without help from the people around you... That's not how we are meant to move forward."

It might sound ironic, but even before getting reborn as Zero, I had never been against getting help from others. After all, didn't Ezral help me a lot? Maybe not out of camaraderie, but I still accepted it gratefully.

I would always accept help, as long as I could ensure there wasn't an underlying condition or liability attached to it.

"That..."

"WATCH OUT!"

*BOOM!*

'What the fuck...'

Just as Arthur was about to reply, we arrived at the main space of the club, our eyes getting a full view of the disgusting scenery, just in time to see one of Sarah's bodyguards being blown away by a massive arm.

Before us, there were a number of dead bodies scattered around the dance floor and the tables, blood flowing freely as if celebrating its freedom. And in the middle of all of this, a monstrous dark-red being was having the party of its life, happily taking down the last bodyguard that had tried to keep its attention.

With its slithery and veiny skin, its massive size, and knife-like teeth and claws, it was clear that it might not be something one would consider friendly.

Quickly, I turned my eyes to Arthur to see his reaction, to see if my demon detector went off when seeing the thing. Yet, that did not seem to be the case. Instead, he looked just as calm as before, even to the point where I would say he was even more focused.

Something that was hard to say about myself, as I was struggling to contain Zero who wanted to puke when he saw all the bodies. Still, I felt like I had to confirm it, "That's the demon? It's the first time I've seen one..."

Shaking his head, my little bait was quickly devoured by him, "No, that's not a demon... I think... that's a human."

Interrupting our sweet little conversation, the human who very much looked like a demon noticed us. "Oh, more toys to play with? Say, you wouldn't have happened to see a little, lovely princess around here? If you do, I might just allow you to walk away from here."

"Zero... You got my back, right?"

Withdrawing his sword out of his spatial inventory, Arthur had already made up his mind about what was going to happen. Luckily, at his words, the Zero part of me also resolved himself, knowing that this wasn't the time for tears. This was the time to protect.

"Always."

"Hupp!"

Arthur didn't hesitate for a second to activate [Ascension] and dash forward, aware that the bodyguards that had gotten slaughtered couldn't have been weak, which in turn meant that the monster in front of us wasn't weak either.

"Ahahaha! So be it! I'll find her anyway!"

Keeping his sword ready, the hero was now in striking distance of the monster that only smiled as if we were some mild inconvenience. So, to make sure that the man in front of him wouldn't get the chance to strike, it swung his arm out.

'Shit, he's fast!'

*BOM!*

Though the hero managed to block the attack with his sword, he was still sent flying back to me.

'[Materialize]'

Quickly I made a soft patch of water to catch him in the air, successfully making it so he did not fly into the wall, instead landing on his feet with a wet white shirt. "Thanks..."

Instead of replying to his little words of appreciation, my mind was running through the motions of thinking of how we could defeat the large red monster with a humanlike head in front of us.

The first thing that came to mind was time, if we weren't able to bring it down, for how long would we need to stall before the guilds or the military would come to our rescue? That, I didn't know, and therefore I quickly dismissed the thought and moved on.

Next question was, was it really a situation where I would have to bring Zero out so he could activate our skill, or could we win without it?

Unfortunately, the monster in front of us wasn't too keen on allowing me to think for much longer, "You are not coming? Then I guess I am going!"

Rushing forward with speed that didn't match its size, Arthur knew he had no choice but to do the same, as I would otherwise be caught up in the crossfire.

At the same time, I started supporting him from behind, "[Flowing Aegis]!"

Four shields quickly made their way to Arthur, circulating around him as he was now their designated target just in time to match the huge fist that came flying at his face.

*BOM!*

'Really?!'

The shield that had thrown itself in front of Arthur was instantly dispersed by just one hit, unable to withhold its form. Luckily, it at least gave the hero a chance to counterattack.

*Slice!*

"Gargh!"

Following the big arm with his glowing sword, a huge cut was made alongside it, making the monster scream in pain. Sadly, it was too shallow.

'A berserker type...'

With Arthur in a vulnerable spot after his attack, I hurried to create a situation where he would be able to retreat. "[Orb of Water]!"

Noticing my little bubble of water coming at him, the monster didn't look scared at all. In fact, he just laughed while he swiped it away, "Gahaha! Do you think something like this could..."

'[Detonate]!'

*BOOM!*

"AARRGHHH!"

One of his clawed fingers flew through the air, quickly accompanied by a spray of blood as he screamed in pain once again. Not wanting to waste this chance, the hero readied his sword, "[Arc of Light - Strengthened]!"

A huge arc of light was sent off from his sword, quickly making its way with the intention of severing the monster's head from its body. However...

"You fuckers...!"

Instead of his flying off his body, two more muscular arms were created from his body, and he turned around and used all four limbs to defend himself.

*BAM!*

Naturally, a huge gash was still created across his arms, making even more blood escape the monster's body. Yet, to our surprise, but more importantly disappointment, smoke started to emerge from the monster's wounds.

A moment later, all of his wounds had completely regenerated, even going as far as to grow a new finger on his hand.

'Shit...'

"So, you want to play? Then let's fucking play!"