Demon's Virtue

Eiro just heard something that he didn't like in the slightest. This man wanted to take on the role of leading the Ladies to town?

Although… That might be a chance. If this man would take that role over, then Eiro wouldn't need to wait for the next year to pass and could get going to the north to have the seals on Sammy and Leon removed… Wouldn't it be way safer if they left now? That's what Eiro thought for just a moment, but then he shook his head quickly to snap out of it.

It was a request from Jura to stay for a year, and there were other good reasons not to go just yet as well… In the end, he had to keep going with this task. And in the first place, weren't it the ladies that chose the one that led them? The only reason that Eiro could keep going was that Jura introduced them, and they took a liking to him… At least that's what he figured, he hadn't actually met any of the Ladies again after Jura's death, after all.

With a deep sigh, Eiro quietly grumbled some random swear-words toward the man in the armor, because he was simply pretty annoyed with the current situation. And that was when the Village Head spoke again.

"Excuse me, Lord Argenson, but I don't think that will be possible." He explained, and immediately, Rumia looked down onto the quite short, elderly man, "What do you mean, you don't think it will be possible? Of course it will, because I say so."

Annoyedly, Eiro just stared at Rumia, in disbelief of his idiocy. But then again, details about the Ladies seemed to be rather unknown to people outside this town, so Eiro couldn't push it off onto that just yet.

"As… As I said, that will not be possible. It is not us that choose the Guide, it is the Ladies themselves. Neither the current Guide, nor his replacement we have come to know in recent years, were able to appoint themselves to that position." The Village Head added, and Rumia just crossed his arms and with a clear, commanding voice spoke.

"And who might those two be? Bring them to me right now." He exclaimed loudly, but the Village Head just shook his head in response, "We cannot do that. We don't even know where they live, Lord. One of them, the replacement, only comes here once every few weeks."

With a deep sigh, Eiro turned over toward Nelli annoyedly. "Could you prepare to produce a large amount of water at once?" He asked the Spirit, and she just raised her brows surprised. She hadn't been able to hear the conversation unfold, after all.

"Hmm, is it that bad?" She asked, and Eiro slowly climbed off the building again as he quietly explained the situation. Due to the Shadow form, his voice was echoing around already, but luckily Nelli understood him even then. "Heh…? Got it, let's mess with that guy!" She exclaimed, although she was still hidden in the inbetween-space, so only Eiro could hear her.

With a light grin, the Demon nodded his head. "You know what? During my fight with James, I noticed that I do really enjoy fighting…" He whispered, and then stood up, pressing his body against the wall so that he would still stay hidden for now, "So if this turns sour, let's cheer ourselves up a little." Eiro muttered quietly, already holding a scoop of water through a bubble with a thin ice shell in his hand to prepare for the initiating attack if it was really necessary.

The group of soldiers behind Rumia was troublesome though… Was there a good way to deal with all of them at once?

And before Eiro knew it, Rumia already replied to the Village Head again, "Hmm, then we'll just have to wait until they're here. And for a bit of insurance… John, Mark, arrest him. This town is under my charge now." The tall man exclaimed, and quickly two of the soldiers behind him walked up to the Village head, while the onlooking Villagers were in an uproar over this.

But that uproar soon ended when the two Soldiers, John and Mark, were laying on the ground. Once Eiro heard Rumia speak, he immediately ran forward and threw the water-filled ice bubble at them and made the water heat up as he was doing so, and once the water covered the ground underneath them he immediately started to freeze it.

At the same time, Eiro had been freezing the water that Nelli was spreading in front of him to use it for a smooth attack. Because like this, he could run and drop himself to the ground while keeping the same momentum he had before for after, or at least the loss of momentum wasn't quite as large.

And what Eiro did was rather simple. For just a moment, he had his Three of Swords out and stabbed it into the back of the Soldiers' Armor to make use of their heavy weight and pull them down. Immediately after that, he returned the Three of Swords into their card state and placed the card back into his treasury.

Luckily, it took everyone in the group of Soldiers a little while to realize what was going on, and even Rumia only noticed Eiro after looking around for a moment or two.

But then, he immediately pulled his sword and pointed it at the figure standing in front of him, "Wh-Who are you?!" Rumia exclaimed, although Eiro just smiled underneath his mask and tilted his head as a shadowy mist seeped out from underneath his mask and cloak.

"Who am I?" He repeated, thinking maybe playing around could be a little fun as well. A fight was good enough for him, but he first needed to figure out who these people were. In the books that Eiro read so far, when a group of soldiers went somewhere, they ususally had to regularly report to their higher-ups.

If it was the case here as well and they ended up sending reinforcements after not hearing anything, then this situation might end up far worse in the long run.

So, with his voice echoing through the Central Place, the Demon just started to laugh, "You were looking for me, were you not?" Eiro asked, and from behind him, the Demon could feel the cold air of weapons being drawn and the sounds accompanying John and Mark as they were standing up and doing simply that.

And through that voice, another voice spoke, "L-Lord Argenson, this man is the one who will replace the current Guide. He goes by 'Eiro'." The Village Head explained as he quickly recognized the Demon's figure, and immediately, the Soldiers started to mutter amongst themselves while Rumia just tightened his grip on his sword.

"How insolent!" He exclaimed, which was a rather unexpected response from the Demon's position, "Who are you to walk here, spreading your name as the Great Hero's?!" Rumia asked, and Eiro just raised his brows as he started to chuckle.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see where the issue is? That 'Great Hero' is dead, is he not? I'm alive, so why should I let a dead man dictate what I can and can't be named?" Eiro slightly laughed, and immediately, the mumbling of the soldiers became louder.

Eiro was full aware that it was more than just unusual to be called Eiro. As was quite clear right here, it was quite insulting to some to have someone be named Eiro. It was even illegal in some places, actually. The name was seen as more of a title these days, after all. The Hero of every generation would be known as 'Eiro's Descendant', so being called 'Eiro' was like saying you were the same as him, and better than the hero.

Well, when the Imp here was named this, neither he himself nor the children were aware of those facts, but now it was too late. His name was already approved by his Status, so there were little ways to change that now.

The only reason why Eiro wanted to do this was a simple one. People that were angry or upset often spoke too much, and that was what Eiro was counting on right now.

"I don't care who you are, there's still the current Guide! We'll have him give the task to me! So, men, kill this wicked heretic!" Rumia exclaimed, and immediately, he could notice that not only the two men behind him started swinging at him, but the soldiers behind Rumia were preparing to pull their weapons as well.

But before anyone could do anything, Nelli appeared out of thin air and started covering the street underneath everyone's feet in large amounts of water, that were of course quickly frozen by Eiro.

This water was pretty cold right now, so it took a bit longer than Eiro would have liked, but it was fine this way as well, because it made it that the Soldiers had their legs covered in a bit of the water as well, which was even more favorable to Eiro.

Quickly, the Demon started sliding across the surface of the ice, since his body had surprisingly amazing control on such a surface, so he just started sliding across with a few swift motions, just moving around the group of armed soldiers as the water froze more and more.

"Heretic? Ah, and before you spoke of a Holy King? Hmm, then you're part of Zhurgard?" Eiro asked as he kept sliding around on the surface of ice, propelling him around in an even more agile manner with the help of his Wind Magic, masterfully dodging and tripping up the Soldiers that were trying to attack him.

Although, there were currently also some Mages preparing to mess with the Demon, but Eiro had Nelli properly keep an eye on them. Eiro himself was a bit too sensorially overwhelmed to concentrate on any one thing right now.

Surprised, Rumia kept looking at Eiro, not moving his eyes off of him for even a split-second, and then started to grind his teeth in a manner that Eiro could even hear him do so, "Do not speak the name of our Holy Kingdom! A Heretic like you should watch themself!" Rumia yelled out, and Eiro just rapidly moved his feet into Rumia's direction and pushed his body weight into the opposite direction that he was moving to keep his balance while he used his Ice Magic to create a slope that helped him slow down.

"Hmm, really? I should be the one watching myself?" Eiro asked, looking at the group of soldiers struggling to stand up with their heavy armor on their bodies. They had obviously been marching for a good while now and were already exhausted to an incredible amount, but just then, the Mages finally got what they were trying to work and started to melt the ice back into water, so Nelli quickly informed Eiro of this.

"Alright then, Nelli, prepare for a big one." Eiro warned and then held his right hand forward, and immediately, Rumia started to laugh loudly. "Hahahah, what are you trying to do now, huh?! You can see that you can't run from us forever, can't you?! What can a crippled man like you do with a fake hand?!" He asked, seemingly not understanding what Eiro was planning to do.

But with a slight sigh, the Demon just stopped pushing the Shadow Mana into his body and quickly moved the Shadow Magic Stone back into his treasury so that he could concentrate all of his mana into what he was about to do.

The thing about Eiro's current prosthetic was that it was something created out of Eiro's mana itself. It grew and became something that could only be truly utilized by this unique creature, and spent all of its lifetime bathing in the energy of nature.

It was just the perfect material for a staff or wand. Since that was the case, what would happen if Eiro utilized his wooden fingers like five small wands? He was able to make use of Magic Circles in a far quicker and more detailed manner than others would be.

As such, the very moment that Eiro's fingers started moving, the Demon practically painted lines of ice into the air using water that Nelli was preparing for him. It was intricate, but strong. Refined, but at the same time chaotic. It was wild, and somehow tamed. It was a Unique Magic Circle that the Smartest Imp came up with.