Theo


    "Uhh, can I go now? Please? I need to— I need to use the toilet!"


    The horned girl giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “Come now. Do you really believe such an obvious, white-faced lie would work on me? I may look young but I am not naive.”


    The boy was now stuck, forced into being an unwilling guest of a tea party with the enemy.


    He tried to run but she only caught up to him. If he had to guess, it was her who made the corridors and hallways so confusing that he kept getting lost. And he wasn''t sure it was a good idea to draw his sword and fight. Even though he had gotten a lot stronger over the years, he was still nowhere near the level of his master.


    "Drink. It''s my special blend. You won''t regret it."


    He looked at the cup in front of him. Even if the color hadn''t been bright blue, he would still hesitate to drink something that the enemy was offering.


    "It''s Hieta Bloom tea. It''s a really rare flower, you know. But the taste is simply exquisite if you use its leaves to brew your tea."


    "I-I''m sorry but I can''t be here!" He pushed the cup away. "I have to rescue Miss Victoria!"


    "That girl? Why do you want to rescue her?"


    "Because she''s Master Hugo''s friend!"


    The horned girl took a sip of her tea, her smile full of amusement.


    "How shallow."


    "Huh?"


    "Your reason for fighting. Just to help your master? You know he doesn''t need your help, right? He''s much stronger than you after all~" Her smile turned into a smirk.


    "That''s—"


    He couldn''t respond.


    She was completely right.


    No matter how hard he trained, he just couldn''t keep up with him and his wives. They were akin to the stars in the sky, always so far away no matter how high he climbed. The only reason he could tag along with them was because of their kindness. Nothing more. Miss Sherry had grown to be a powerful swordswoman whose strength rivaled those heroes in those bardic tales. Miss Felicia was a genius alchemist and a powerful shadow mage. Miss Myrilla could read minds and she was a powerful wind mage in her own right. Compared to them…


    He was nothing.


    The horned girl giggled. “Don’t tell me you’ve only noticed it now?”


    “I…” He looked down, averting his gaze from hers.


    “Ahh, you’re a lucky one.” She stood up, her wooden chair creaking on the floor when she pushed it back. “Unlike the others, I have no desire to kill you. Even though you won’t be of any worth at all to my dear brother.”


    She walked up to him, reaching forward with a smile, lifting up his chin with her hand.


    “You’re cute. How old are you, boy?”


    “H-huh? I’m… I’m thirteen…” He stuttered with a blush.


    “Thirteen? So young…”


    “H-hey, you’re young, too!”


    “Me?” She giggled, patting her chest. “I’m a millenia old, silly!”


    “A-a millenia?!”


    The demon girl walked away, turning her back towards him.


    “I was there when the great and mighty Arthur still walked the land. We were there. Me and my dear brother.”


    She turned around, her smile turning as bitter as ash.


    “We were there when he and his little entourage killed all of our kind.”


    ???


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    ???


    Theo gulped. "W-what happened next?" He asked her, a bead of sweat rolling down his face. Without him realizing, her storytelling had engrossed her completely.


    “What happened?” The horned girl chuckled. “What do you think happened?”


    “T-The… The Heroes… destroyed your whole kingdom?”


    "Yes they did!" She clapped her hands. "And not only that, they slaughtered every single member of our race as well!" Her eyes glimmered, her smile sending a bone-chilling sensation into his body.


    "S-so," He gulped again. "So why are you here then? You and your brother?"


    The horned girl''s smile remained as her eyes traversed upwards towards the ceiling.


    "They spared us. For some dumb, nonsensical, idiotic reason, they spared us." She let out a dry laugh.


    ???


    ???


    "He didn''t say anything afterwards." The horned girl smirked, her chin now resting on top of her hand. "He and his friends just left. Can you imagine it?"


    Theo didn''t know what to say. To be honest, the whole thing was going over his head.


    "W-why are you telling me this exactly? I''m not going to join your side ever!"


    The horned girl laughed. "Oh dear, you misunderstood terribly. You’re here simply to entertain me, that’s all. You have no idea how lonely it can get around here…”


    “W-well, then I hope you’re satisfied because I’m going now!” Theo stood up from his chair. “I have to come to Master Hugo’s aid!”


    “Didn’t I tell you before that he doesn’t need your aid?” She rolled her eyes with a sigh. “You’re a burden. Simple as that. It’s also why I haven’t killed you by the way. You just don’t have the capability to kill me. Or even injure me in any significant matter.”


    Once again, she dealt a blow to Theo’s pride. He could only grit his teeth as his hand quickly moved to the handle of his sword. Should he do it? Should he prove to her that she was wrong?


    “Go on. Pull it. If you do, I’ll put you down like the puppy that you are.”


    Once again, fear seized his heart.


    This girl… she was strong. He could sense it just by looking at her.


    Or maybe that was just his cowardice talking.


    “Grr…”


    His hand shook.


    He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t unsheathe his blade and land the first strike.


    “Sit down. I still have more stories to tell you. You’re a thousand years too young to be challenging me.”


    It wasn’t working.


    He could not do it.


    “...Urgh." She groaned. "You know what? You''re boring me. Forget about the story. I''ll have you entertain me in a new, better way instead."


    She snapped her fingers.


    The room immediately began to shake and shift, nearly causing Theo to fall to his bum.


    "W-what? An earthquake? No, this is… the room''s moving!"


    Before he could say anything else, a hole suddenly slid open on the ceiling.


    Sending Tama and Tira falling down into the room.


    And they didn’t land on their feet.


    Instead, they collapsed to the ground. And they remained there, unmoving.


    "Tama! Mother!"


    Before he could run to their side, a firm pair of hands stopped him from behind.


    He looked behind him and, to his horror, a tall, domineering ogre had grabbed him in place.


    "Well done, Akato." The horned girl spoke. "I assume they were no problem for you in the slightest?"


    "None. They are no match against my shadow technique, Milady," the ogre replied.


    The ogre''s skin was blue, contrasting greatly to all the red ogres he had seen these past few days. He wore a black that exposed a generous amount of his chest, followed by a veil that covered his face.


    In short, he was nothing like those friendly ogres for sure.


    “What did you do to them?!” He yelled to the ogre.


    “Relax, boy.” The horned girl smiled triumphantly. “I simply told Akato to knock them all out and bring them here. I didn’t tell him to kill them or anything.”


    “After all, I want to be the one to do so.”


    She summoned a scythe out of thin air before slowly, methodically walking towards the two unconscious girls.


    Naturally, Theo didn’t take this well in the slightest.


    “No! I won’t… let you!”


    Unfortunately, his arms were held in place by the ogre’s much beefier arms. He tried to kick him with his feet, only to find out that no matter how hard he did it, the only one he hurt was himself.


    This is it. This is the moment.


    The moment his master Sherry spoke of in their training.


    ???


    ???


    He took a deep breath.


    And did what Sherry had trained him to do.


    Hands and feet…


    His hands were tied…


    But his feet…


    "LET ME GO YOU STUPID OGRE!"


    He stepped on the ogre''s feet as hard as he could.


    "Gyaaahhhh!"


    The force was enough to crack his bones, thanks to Theo augmenting his feet with aura.


    He didn''t do it intentionally. He simply followed Sherry''s teachings.


    He gave it all he got. Just like how he slashed that boulder into two.


    The ogre''s grip loosening, he quickly freed himself. He ran forward, unsheathed his sword, and swung as hard as he could at the horned girl.


    "You—"


    She blocked his swing with the outer side of her scythe.


    Only for the edge of his blade to cut straight through her conjured steel.


    She quickly stepped back, away from his blade.


    But it was just a breath too late.


    "Gah!"


    She fell backwards, blood spurting out from the front of her body. Her black dress was torn in the middle, revealing her braless flat chest to the world.


    She was lucky the cut was shallow, or else she could''ve lost her life right then and there!


    Just as she was preparing her shadow spell for a counter, however…


    Unfortunately for him, with that one slash, Theo had exhausted his entire strength.


    And that led to him falling down as well. Right on top of her in fact, with his face landing between her legs, under her dress.


    She was too aghast to even care that he was looking up her skirt. Never before had she felt this much confusion in her entire life.


    "Lady Gretchel!" The blue ogre quickly came to her side.  "Are you alright?! Those wounds… we have to heal you right away!"


    "N-no need…" she replied, looking at him. "The slash wasn''t deep in the slightest… i managed to dodge it at the last second…"


    Her heart was beating rapidly.


    A smile formed on the horned girl''s face.


    She stood up, her gaze locked on Theo.


    Once again, using her shadow magic, she manifested her scythe into existence.


    Before bringing it down to his neck.