The Damned Demon

[ Quest successfully completed! ]

[ Rewards received -> 215 Rating Points, +2 Talent Points, +2 Skill Points ]

[ Difficulty bonus -> +107 Rating Points ]

[ Rating Increased : 0 -> 322 ]

[ Next level up at Rating : 688 ]

Asher had a satisfied smile upon seeing how he was almost halfway through level 8. He realized how it was easier than he expected to progress with his past life experience when any other person in his shoes wouldn't survive a quest of this difficulty.

In total, he gained this much by killing 3 Hunters while Merina killed the other two.

He then saw Merina giving him meek glances and asked, "What's up with you? Do you have anything to ask me?" At the same time he walked towards Kara's corpse and used his ring blade to cut off her dominant hand.

Merina parted her lips with a look of hesitation, but feeling his glance, she asked in a low voice, "I…I was just wondering why you let that Hunter go? If Master had killed a powerful Hunter like her, you could have gained a good amount of refined mana," Merina had never seen any other person let go of a Hunter when they could have killed them for sure, especially if it was someone stronger than them.

Letting go of Hunters was equivalent to throwing away one's wealth since refined mana was too valuable.

She also personally wanted to watch her die.

Asher curved his lips and said as he tucked away the severed hand into the Damned Dimension, "Because I am not done with her. Death will just be too easy," He would have contemplated keeping her with him only if he had a way of keeping her alive here. Still, he felt that it was better this way.

Merina had a hint of confusion, wondering why her Master seemed so fixated on that Hunter girl. Did he meet her before? She could only guess. However, she had no doubt that this Hunter girl was unfortunate to not have died here since her Master had his sights on her. That made her feel better.

"I suppose a slave crest wouldn't be good?" Merina felt it strange her Master didn't turn that Hunter into a slave if he wanted to punish her while keeping her alive. He could also make good use of a powerful slave like that.

Asher subtly chuckled as he shook his head while looting Bolo's Level 10 Armor, "Don't underestimate the humans. They can sniff out a demon's mark on a human from anywhere in the world, especially someone coming from a powerful family like hers," He went through the stuff of the other corpses and realized there wasn't much to loot other than some inferior potions.

"Oh…That's true…" Merina felt dumb for not thinking of that. She was astonished her Master knew better about humans for someone of his age and experience. The queen must have thoroughly taught him about these things.

"Let's get back to the castle. Teleport," Asher said as Merina stood near him.

But nothing happened, making Asher and Merina look at each other with confused looks, "What is going on? Why aren't we able to teleport?"

"I…I don't know. I have never taken a quest too far from me before," Merina said with her head lowered while feeling anxious, wondering if they had to travel back to the castle on their own.

"Shit…Why am I not surprised? We are trapped out here..." Asher realized the Devils fucked them over yet again by fooling him into thinking they would teleport them back.

Of course, just like Merina, he also had never taken a quest too far away from him, because of which he assumed things wrongly.

He wished he had known this before though he would have still accepted this quest.

"How far is our kingdom from here?" Asher asked while looking at the hundreds of miles of land and forests stretching over the cliff.

Merina had an anxious look as she answered, "It is quite far, Master. We may have to get on a carriage from the nearest town, but the biggest problem is…"

"What is it?" Asher asked with a squint.

Merina took a deep breath and said, "We can't get to any safe place without going through dangerous territories."

"By dangerous territories, do you mean enemies of our kingdom?" Asher asked with crossed arms.

Merina had a troubled and anxious look as she nodded, "On our way, we will probably come upon a territory of one of the werewolf clans…my old clan. We would be stepping into enemy territory, and they would definitely try to kill us, especially since Master is from the Bloodburn Kingdom."

Asher let out a tired sigh as he realized they were fucked. There was no way he could bulldoze his way through those hostile territories. Things were even more difficult because these werewolves loathed the Bloodburn Kingdom with every drop of their blood. There was no telling what these animals would do to their enemies.

He had heard of how werewolves were fiercely territorial and will tear apart anyone who even stepped a foot into their territories.

He felt as if he got trapped in a very tight situation.

"But since you were once part of their clan, you know how to avoid the dangerous places, right?" Asher asked with crossed arms.

Merina nervously pinched her lips and softly nodded, "I do know, but…it will take days at least, which will be trouble for us because of the problem of food and sleep. I also apologize for not being able to guarantee if we will make it through safely," Merina felt that in the middle of dangerous territories, how can one peacefully sleep and safely procure food. It also had been years since she ventured out to these places and was not confident of how things might have changed.

"It's not like we have a choice. Let's move before it gets dark," Asher said as Merina followed him behind while feeling worried if she would get to see her children again.

…

For hours Asher and Merina walked by foot, with Merina carefully scouting the way ahead while Asher followed her to avoid any dangerous places.

It was a good thing he brought Merina along. Otherwise, he would have had a lot of trouble finding his way back in the middle of nowhere.

He also had the magical mask to disguise himself as Lagoo and lend a spare one to Merina to make sure nobody would recognize her and inform her old clan about her presence.

As a werewolf, she knew how to avoid any obvious red signs, though they did come upon a few weak demons whom Asher took advantage of to extort some food and whatever life crystals they had, even if it was not much.

How could they have known that they would get looted by the very people they tried to loot from?

Asher realized how relatively more dangerous and unorganized things were outside the kingdom. Without strength, no demon would even survive a few minutes out here. Even the nature around him was not to be underestimated. He came upon some demonic plants that could even swallow an elephant easily. The most dangerous part about such kinds of plants was how they were hidden in plain sight, and he would have got trapped if not for Merina having knowledge of such things.

She led him through these paths since most demons would avoid such areas due to these dangerous plants. Because of that, they didn't come upon any strong demons, fortunately.

He realized how comparatively easy the demons back in the kingdom had it. There was a stable system and society, unlike how it was out here.

Merina saw the moon rising up and hiding behind the dark clouds. She looked around with a vigilant gaze before looking at her Master and saying, "Master, I think we should camp for the night before proceeding further. It wouldn't be good to keep traveling in the dark."

Asher didn't mind since she knew the best and said, "Fine. Let's eat and sleep out here."

Asher used the skin of one of the dangerous plants he had destroyed earlier to put up a small tent-like structure. It was flimsy but good enough to last for the night.

With the help of his flames, he cooked the meat he and Merina had collected on the way as the two ate it to fill their bellies.

Asher looked at Merina gorging up the meat, though he wasn't surprised since she had been seriously injured before and had been scouting the way ahead without rest.

Merina felt her Master's gaze and then looked at her meat as she timidly offered to him, "Do you want my share, Master?" Merina asked, wondering if he was still hungry. She knew the only reason they completed the quest was because of her Master. She stood to gain a lot from it and again got to experience how good it felt to kill Hunters, which she missed more than she realized. By now, she was growing fond of serving him.

Asher felt that for a older woman with beastly instincts, she surely was too innocent at times or maybe trying to curry favor with her Master.

He shook his head and asked with a squint, "I was wondering why you ran away from your clan. You surely must have been desperate to seek refuge with the enemy kingdom," Asher was always curious about this face, and now since he had time to spare, he decided to ask her.

Merina's expression suddenly became taut as she looked away and stopped eating. Her fingers were tightly folded, but then after a few moments of silence, she parted her lips to answer, "I come from the Darkmoon Clan, which has an alliance with the Moonbinder Clan. Because of this alliance, I got married to a man from the Moonbinder Clan since my pack died to the Hunters, and I was too young to take care of myself. The elders in the clan decided it was best I did that."

Asher had learned more about werewolves from her, especially how their societies generally worked. There would always be an 'Alpha' who would be the strongest and most respected member of the clan.

And then, there would be smaller groups among the clan known as 'packs', compromised of several families. Each pack looked after themselves, while at times, they would hunt or fight together with other packs.

So now he realized why Merina got married off. Since everyone in her pack died, she must have been considered a liability by the other packs, refusing to take her in. The only thing they could do was marry her off to another pack while strengthening their alliance with the other clan.

"I also sought strength to make the humans pay for what they did to my family. I thought by marrying into the strongest clan, I would be able to achieve it," Merina said as her fingers curled up into fists.

Asher narrowed his eyes, realizing why she always killed Hunters in a way that seemed personal. She must still be carrying a strong grudge against them for killing her family, not that he minded.

"So what happened after your marriage?" Asher asked as he leaned back.

"My late husband was a powerful warrior who served the Moonsayer, the Alpha of the Moonbinder Clan of that time. Because of that, I became a maid of the Moonsayer's family as well who were really kind people and I...I couldn't focus on getting stronger due to my duties," Her expression became pained as she continued, "But one day, it was brought to light that the Moonsayer betrayed the clan. My late husband was very loyal to him and stood by him till the end. But they were publicly executed for being traitors to their clan, including…their families as well," As Merina said this, her eyes welled up as a drop of tear dripped down her left cheek, which she quickly wiped.

"So before they could execute your family, you ran away with your children, right?" Asher could see now why she was desperate enough to seek refuge with the enemy kingdom. She and her children were going to die anyway, so why not take a chance?

He was surprised the Demon King let them live and even gave her a job in the castle. She brought nothing of value except burdens. Again, who knew what that cunning old asshole was thinking.

However, hearing how even the Alpha of a werewolf clan was publicly executed along with his family, he felt that the structure of these clans was decentralized, where the leader doesn't necessarily hold that much power over the rest, unlike the structure of the Bloodburn Kingdom.

And seeing Merina being sad, he felt she must have been really attached to the Moonsayer's family whom she had served. Still, he felt her husband was an idiot for siding with the traitor despite the danger of losing his and his family's life. Some people were just too loyal for their own good, not that he had any complaints about it.

However, he found it funny how someone embraced death for someone else who wasn't even family while his own ex-girlfriend didn't even have a fraction of such loyalty.

But suddenly, an idea struck him…Maybe it was good that such people existed so that he could take advantage of said people. He tucked away this thought and glanced at Merina before rubbing his hands together loudly as he said, "Tonight, we stand watch with turns. I will do the first watch while you sleep and heal. I want you in top shape by the time you wake up."

Merina composed herself as she nodded, "Yes, Master," Merina didn't waste any time and went to sleep right away to not let down her Master.