Chapter 156: The Ever-Evolving Demons
"You're awake, Lord Rhodes!"
He opened his eyes, and the face that greeted him was not the familiar one he had expected, but that of a pretty, young elven girl.
He blinked, his mind still in a fog from the long, deep slumber of reincarnation. It took him a moment to realize that it was not his familiar elven miss, but her apprentice, Ela.
"Ela? What are you doing here?" He instinctively looked around for Serie, but other than Ela, the only other thing in the room was Athos, which was lying by the bed, radiating a soft light and maintaining a pale, golden barrier around him.
"Lady Serie had to leave on an urgent matter. Before she left, she asked me to stand guard and to ensure that you were not disturbed," she said. "Lord Rhodes, how are you feeling? Can you dispel this barrier? She said only you can fully control Athos."
She had left the sword behind to protect him, confident that there was no mage in the world who could break its barrier. But just in case, she had also left her apprentice to watch over him.
"What happened?"
He took a moment to assess the state of his new body. The reincarnation had been a success; there were no problems. He willed the barrier to disperse, and it vanished in an instant, and Ela was now able to approach.
"I'm fine," he said, and stood, stretching his new limbs. "What happened? Where is she? She rarely leaves at such a critical moment."
"It's the demons," she said, a note of worry in her voice. "About a week before you awoke, they appeared in an elven town not far from here. They attacked and caused a great many casualties."
"Demons?" His brow furrowed. It had been over a thousand years. Like indestructible cockroaches, they had once again gathered and were now launching a direct assault on the elves. "How many? And were there any particularly powerful ones among them?"
"The details are still unclear," she said, shaking her head. "When the news reached us, Lady Serie was furious. She immediately decided to deal with it herself." There was a complete and utter trust in her teacher's strength in her voice, but there was also a hint of worry. She had been gone for almost a week, and the town was only a day's journey from here.
"A week..." His heart sank. For her to have been gone for so long... the situation was likely more complicated, and more dangerous, than he had imagined.
"Tell me where the town is. I'm going to go find her."
"Lord Rhodes! Your body..."
"Don't worry about me."
He took Org and Athos and prepared to leave. Even with his mana not yet fully recovered, he wouldn't mind showing those demons what a close-combat mage could do.
But before he could act, he felt a familiar and powerful fluctuation of mana. He and Ela both turned to the door, which was now being pushed open.
And there she was.
She was wearing her familiar white robe, her exquisite face unchanged, though she was a little paler than usual, a sign of mana exhaustion. Her breathing was a little more rapid as well, though she was trying her best to hide it.
"Serie," he said, and walked towards her.
"Lady Serie!" Ela also rushed forward.
Her gaze fell on him, and seeing that he had successfully awakened, a look of pure joy filled her cool, collected eyes. "Ela, you may go now," she said with a slight nod.
"Yes, my lady." She gave her teacher another worried look, then at him, and with a respectful bow, she left.
When the door was closed, her gaze returned to him. "How do you feel this time?" she asked, her tone as casual as if she had just gone for a walk.
But he didn't answer. He just took her hand and, with a gentle touch, he sensed the mana within her.
She didn't resist.
"Your mana... it's so depleted. What happened? Did you run into a particularly powerful demon?" he asked, his own voice now low and serious.
She gently pulled her hand away and, with a sigh, took out a mana recovery potion. The taste was still as bitter as ever, but after all these years, she had grown used to it. She drank it down, a slight grimace on her face, and then she said, "The demons in the town... they have all been dealt with. Most of them were nothing to worry about. But..." her expression grew grim, "a few of them were... special."
"Special?"
"Yes," she nodded. "Do you remember the demon we met a thousand years ago, the one who called himself one of the Four Heavenly Kings?"
"The one with the petrification magic?" He vaguely remembered. His strength had been nothing to write home about, but his magic... it had been able to bypass some of her defensive spells.
"Yes. And the ones I just fought... they were the same. Their attacks... they could ignore my defensive magic."
"Completely?"
"No," she shook her head. "It's like they were... piercing it? Or perhaps... neutralizing it? It's hard to describe." A look of disbelief was in her eyes, an emotion he had rarely seen from her.
"Rhodes, the demons... they're evolving. And I'm afraid that..."
She trailed off, but he understood.
The magic of this world was constantly evolving, and so, too, were the demons. In a way, they were the most magically talented race in the world. And if she had just encountered a demon that could bypass her defenses, then what about the next one? Would it be able to pierce through her barrier and her body, and kill her in an instant?
It was as if she had already seen it, that terrible future.
His own face darkened. "Are they all gone?" he asked.
"Yes. To be sure, I used the same spell I used on the goddess."
(End of chapter)
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