Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 765: The Curtain Falls...Unexpectedly

Locked in a cage with her party members, Muena could hear the voices of approaching soldiers. The very ground was rumbling with their footsteps as they were getting closer and closer to the nest. And if her betrayal were known, she would be slaughtered alongside the enemy. In mortal danger, whether she tries to escape or stay, the dryad placed a finger in the mossy crack between the floor stones.

With closed eyes, she separated her body into plant fibres. Rooting herself deep between the rocks, she dug her way towards the exit until eventually she found a way to escape. After one last glance at her unconscious party, she felt ready to separate herself into further fibers and escape; however, to her surprise, she couldn’t bring herself to leave, and the reason for it became obvious within seconds.

"Where would I even go?" The desert would be her doom, and running into the approaching army would spell her fate the same. Then where could she escape? There was one way... "But then."

Regrets had finally begun setting in, and upon looking at her remaining party, she pondered why she had even begun this wretched journey. It was obvious from the start that she would become the general’s victim, but at least if she’d gotten her new clan settled, then her task as a monster would’ve been complete. However, as things stood now, she couldn’t accept her fate. A death lacking the soulful mourning of her offspring? There couldn’t have been a worse fate.

Feeling lost, she sat on the ground with her shoulders finally easing up. Looking around, she asked herself what she could do to make things better for herself. Escape and risk dying in the desert or being caught by the army and be killed? Even if the army didn’t get her, once they were defeated, the demon general would come after her, so what could she do to survive at least another day?

"Default again?" She said to herself, but then came a chuckle, reminding her that there was no way in the hells that would ever work after she’d poisoned the hero’s army.

"Sell my soul, perhaps? Make a bond with a devil?" Such thoughts roamed her mind as her group slowly began waking up. First was Kumi, and then Gina. Had Frazer not been taken away by the right arm of the demon general, perhaps he would’ve woken up alongside them.

Either way, she was trapped, and the army was here. The general had also risen from his seat to greet them at the entrance to his nest. Meanwhile, Muena, her party, and the right hand of the demon were present inside the moss-ridden place. Away from danger, for now. But when that could change, nobody could’ve said.

As for the general himself, he stands before the army all alone with a rugged, long blade. Crested with the scales of steel and glowing from the souls of the countless mortals whom his army of horrors had consumed, the demon general stood alone with no more defences, just a challenge aimed at the hero.

"As I’ve said before," directing his blade towards Raven, he smirked. "I have been waiting to test you."

Confusion flooded the tired heads of the army. They’d been fighting a countless stream of horrors just to end up at the nest with not a single soul defending the shambling place.

"Let’s settle this like men, and both your army and mine will abide by the results!" As the general planted the edge of his blade into the ground, countless colossal horrors appeared out of nowhere and loomed above the army like monsters made of flesh and mind-bending abominations.

Their sweat and drool dripped on the ground like acid, burning everything, and the very sound of their breathing was like glass being shaved against metal.

"You against I—what better way to test your mettle!" Grunted the general, his eyes staring at Raven and Raven alone.

Walking up to the front with his party, the hero stood quiet for a moment and tried judging exactly what the hell was going on inside the demon general’s head. A rugged man with a large beard and equipment that could’ve rivalled Aran’s had he been alive. However, even from just standing in front of him, the hero could feel a strong presence trying to make him kneel despite the general not seeming as intimidating as he’d expected.

"An elf? I thought you’d be a monster like your minions."

"Why does it matter what I am? Just fight me—prove to me your worth, and then we’ll see whether you deserve to venture forward or not."

"Prove to you? What kind of deranged test do you think I’m here for?" Spreading his arms, Raven reminded the general of the army that he’d brought. "I came here to kill you, and they came here to do the same, even if it costs them their lives! SO SHUT UP AND FIGHT! THE ONLY THING WE’RE HERE TO PROVE IS THAT YOUR TYRANNY WOULD NOT LAST FOR AS LONG AS WE’RE ALIVE!"

Though a championing roar erupted throughout the army, their fear could still be felt, for the man standing in front of them could easily slaughter them all. Had it not been for Raven and the others now standing before them, they wouldn’t have dared speak a word against the man–at least nobody who wasn’t in the holy order would.

Squinting, almost confusingly so, the general looked around at Raven’s group as if somehow he was offended.

"What do you think this is, mortal?" Wide-eyed, he was hooked on Raven’s expression. Judging every twitch and fold of his skin as he answered.

"A war—what else could it be between a servant of the demon lord and a chosen?" A bit confused himself, Raven squinted his eyes and drew a conjured blade.

WAR;

Blinking in disbelief, the general squeezed the shaft of his blade and grunted.

"Oh, you know nothing then! THIS ISN’T A WAR; IT’S A TEST! A TEST TO DETERMINE WHO’S WO–" Before he could finish, however, a loud bang erupted from the tree and hit the general right in the head. The next thing Raven knew, a beam of bright light consumed them all. And through a tear between dimensions opened by the sheer intensity of the assault, they were sent flying through the realms with no way for them to return.

At least, that should’ve been their fate if the gods didn’t have other plans for them.