Master Of None

The word that the demons had been freed traveled to the kingdoms faster than anyone had expected. What was heard was that the demons had been defeated and the capital taken. Unfortunately, this was not the purest form of truth. There was too much left to the imagination. Too much unsaid.

"Brother, should we really be planning to leave already?" Onyx didn't want to leave the demon capital. He felt that there was too much to do here.

"We aren't leaving. We are just moving to a camp outside the city. If we stay inside then we will interrupt the mages doing a full sweep of things. There may be magic traps." Onyx had somehow been convinced that the entire party was leaving to go back to genesis already.

"We need to find those ancient ruins beneath the city too. That ancient library will hold everything we might need." Su was right there to back up Walker. She wanted the answers as to where the demon lord had gone with Sloth and Envy.

"I just want to crush that slime breeder. He caused so much trouble and we might never get rid of all the slime she sent all over the demon lands!" Remey's opinion was a little rougher but had the same ideals.

"The dwarves are also moving in. They have some heavy interest in the forges. They use magic flames that are similar to using fire elemental crystals as fuel. However, the runes are clearly related to origin runes." Gil had overheard this while the dwarves began to investigate.

"I bet there are a few demon blacksmiths that will hand over everything they know. They were chained up in some of the forges." Walker was trying to look at the bright side but felt a twinge of pain remembering the sight of the demons forced to work endlessly.

"You should already know, we have found a massive pool of resources in every forge and home. They were literally taking everything that could be used to create weapons, armors, and magic items from every village. We even discovered a few mana crystal mines nearby. That is where Terron and Mordant went just a few moments ago."

Alma was very tired. She had used a lot of her energy running around to direct the elven soldiers to help where needed. They had a lot of healing skills that could be used due to the relationship with nature and healing in elven society. Even some of the fire mages possessed a basic healing skill, even if it was nearly useless, it was useful for the demons who had their mana forcefully taken by Gluttony.

"How about you eat something and sit with us. We are just going outside the walls before the mages and Terron's dragonkin finish opening them up." Gil knew the walls would be rebuilt along with most of the demon city. However, for now, Alma just needed to sit and rest which was all that he had in his mind.

"Please do not worry. I have enough of that from the enforcers behind me. Even the stone and dark elves have been worrying. I just need to make progress." Alma wanted to see this through.

"I know I am guilty of overwork, but how about you rest here before you follow my lead and pass out?" Walker knew that Alma would have to listen to him a little more than the others. He had made the mistake of using his mana too often. It never went well.

"And on the topic of resources, I think they will all be used to rebuild the demon's homes. Forging with them is not that important." Walker mostly said this because he knew it to be true. It was better to think of a rebuilt demon society than a broken one.

"Don't make us go get Alice. She had been reprimanded every healer that even gets close to exhausting their mana. She's been a major player in healing everyone efficiently." Gil's threat won over Alma as well.

Since Alice was one of the highest ranked healers and most respected as the daughter of the high priest, she had a lot of say. With this in mind, she had pushed herself to go from healer group to healer group ensuring that they were rating, drinking mana potions, and treating their own smaller wounds. The rumors about how great she was were growing much more today.

Upon reaching the camp that was being converted from healing station to a soldiers' camp, the party settled in to rest for the first time in a while. They were surprised to find that Leon was there as well.

"Weird way this all came together, hm?" He was still a little stunned how he had managed to take the water currents all the way there while steering monsters. Even the river had been a smooth trip to get through.

" no one expected that they were just leaving it all behind. The ideology that power is everything makes me sick." Walker wasn't holding back. Every time he thought about throwing it all away to get a little stronger his stomach did flips.

"I've always believed my father as king of the merfolk to be a strict man. Now? Not at all. This is much worse. Cruel and strict to an extreme that throws even the most trusted generals to the side."

"Leon. I couldn't agree with you more. That demon lord and his two last sin title holders need to be taught a lesson." Unsurprisingly, Remey and Leon proceeded to get in to an all out rant about this. No one had the strength to stop them.

"Oh, so we just go and sit down after not fighting. Wish I could have done that." Barry walked out of a nearby tent looking much better than he had before at the border walls. The color had returned to his face while most of the bruising had healed.

"We need to set up a camp and eat before we go in. The mages are searching for magic traps and the dwarves are doing the same."

"Walker, I know. I couldn't help but joke a little with the younger adventurers. I can't always be the tough berserker Barry. There are only so many monsters to defeat." Barry's rolling laughter was surprisingly uplifting.

"Hey! The dwarves told us how dangerous the forged left unattended are. There could be explosions if we don't let them handle it." The defense that Gil used just added to Barry's laughter.

"You should know that Clara is on the way. She has a group of archeologists, rune related system users, and librarians. She used her position to take them from the mage tower to come here. One is more pressing than the other."

Hearing that Clara had prioritized this made many who heard this news relax. It would have taken longer to go back to Genesis and send official groups here. Clara had helped cut out the middle and sped the process up.

"Good. Another group will help get further. We have yet to hear of-"

"Sir! The library has been found beneath the demon lord's castle. Would you like me to guide you?" The Demi-human soldier that ran up was sweating a lot. He had rushed to find those that needed to know this.

"Of course!" Even Midnight had a small roar that matched the entire party and Leon. Barry was the only one that held back because he knew he would be a hindrance until he was fully healed.

"Take this water first." Walker handed the soldier water as they left the small camp they had set up next to the larger camp for soldiers. The Demi-human soldier seemed happier than anything to have magically chilled water to drink.

"Can you tell us more?" Su was expecting as much information as possible so that they could get to work exploring right away.

"Of course!" The soldier walked in time with their words giving the best he could. " The stairway behind what was once a throne led to a broken wall. It is theorized that the wall was somehow broken exposing an old rune seal. That was the entrance to an ancient library."

" so they have known about it for some time and most likely couldn't unseal it until fairly recently." Alma's theory sounded spot on.

"We found bones and other things left from a trap associated with the seal. Now the ancient library is open. Only part of it is easy to explore. It was made in a strange way. It's hard to explain unless you see it." Now the entire group was lost as to what would make it so hard to describe.

The closer they got back to the castle, the more they noticed the mana had returned. Many demonic runes were showing their relationship to origin runes. The demons had used what they found more than anyone thought.

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