The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

THE battle between humans and demons continued. Despite the failure of their quest, the four couldn't break off their party immediately. Aside from the fact that the demons attacking them were preventing them to do that, the bonds they formed in this journey just wouldn't allow them to leave each other and let them fend for themselves.

As they continued to fight, they also moved forward. Their destination was the capital. Because no matter how the result of their quest was, they still had to report what happened to the proper authorities. The church, for one.

Travelling back, they decided to use Owen's teleportation magic. Since he had already been in the capital, it's easy to go there. But before that, they all agreed to first go to their hometowns to check what was happening there. Despite them not talking about it, they all knew that their homes were probably being attacked right now by demons.

Since Owen hadn't been yet to Keith and Clyde's hometowns, they would have to travel there by foot. Of course, it's only natural to go to his village first.

Arriving there, they were startled to see the number of demons flocking around the village. If not for the barrier that Owen had set up there, it would have probably already burned down by now. In fact, if they were late just a few minutes, these demons would have already broken the barrier.

The four quickly stepped in to kill the demons. Because there were only four of them, it took a while to kill all the demons flocking around the village. Especially since Eleanor was still unable to focus and therefore couldn't exert her best.

At the end, they didn't even have time to relax after because they knew if they stopped, the possibility of their hometowns being destroyed would be much higher. After all, unlike Owen, they didn't have the ability to put a barrier around their hometowns.

It was especially true for Keith's village. An ordinary village who barely had people who could fight head on against a demon. If there's only one, then they could handle it. But with what was happening now, there's no way there would only be one demon.

Clyde, on the other hand, lived in a much bigger town with a proper group of guards that protected the place. With that, Keith's village was the obvious next choice.

Owen teleported them to the area he knew that was nearest to the village.

As that was happening, scenes of the other areas in the continent were shown. Almost everywhere demons were pillaging villages and small towns. People were dying left and right. The number of people capable of fighting back was significantly lower because most of them joined the subjugation.

In a way, the subjugation became like a shackle that completely decreased the humans' defense and offense against the demons. Because of the demons' sudden rampage, this subjugation now had become a complete joke. Especially when one considered the goal of this subjugation. Which turned into a total failure, by the way.

Now the scene was back to the four.

When they arrived at the village, the whole place was already burnt to the ground.

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Keith felt his chest tightened at the sight in front of him. There was almost nothing left of the village. All he could see were the flames, the debris, and the demons pillaging the place. And then, there was the scream.

He gritted his teeth, his expression turning completely feral. Before he could think properly, he was already rushing forward. All he could think of was killing all the demons in his way.

Even though he's not close with the people in this village and there's only a handful of people who dared talk to him, this place was his home. It's the only home he'd ever known. And now it's burning to the ground. Maybe even all the residents were already dead.

All of that while he was gallivanting around the kingdom to do a useless quest. The expression on his face became even more murderous.

The other three followed him with the same grim expressions on their faces.

They managed to kill the demons much faster than expected. Mostly because Keith was like a grim reaper plowing through those demons.

The moment his blade cut off the last demon, Keith knelt down. As if his strength just gave out. Eleanor walked towards him and gently tapped his shoulder.

"Are- are you okay?"

Keith shrugged her off. "I shouldn't have gone on that stupid quest of yours."

Hurt flashed on Eleanor's face. If one wasn't looking at her, they probably would not notice it. She also quickly looked down, hiding her emotions.

"Keith, that's uncalled for," Clyde admonished. "Do you think her highness meant any of this to happen?"

Keith stood up and closed his eyes. He knew that. Of course, he knew that. He also didn't want to direct his anger at Eleanor. He took a deep breath to calm down his rage. When he opened his eyes, the usual calmness was back. He bowed apologetically to the other.

"I'm sorry."

Eleanor quickly shook her head. "No, no. You don't need to apologize. I--I'm at fault too."

As that was happening, the scene shifted to a certain 'god'.

Aether was staring at the blue sea beyond the cliff.  His dark hair swaying with the wind.  His obsidian black eyes were filled with resignation.  As if he had already foreseen how things would end.

"You're here," he said, still looking at the sea.

"It seems you've been expecting me," said a voice from behind.

Aether turned around and stared at the man standing before him.  The other had dark blond hair and light brown eyes.  He was wearing all-black.  Half of his face was filled with runic symbols.  It seemed that those symbols were dancing on his skin, as if alive.

Aether walked closer to the man and reached out his hand. As he touched the other's face, a glimpse of emotion flashed in those eyes filled of apathy.