Xander:

  Alex’s information was both a scary and lucky break. I as well as a few of the other Guildmasters had started to notice some discrepancies in various reports. Specifically in relation to the number of demons that came through and the amount that were reported killed. We were pretty sure that they were getting through our armies but we had yet to find any evidence or trail to follow.

  Yet for some reason, no one believed me when I told them about Alex’s demonic problem. They kept saying that the kingdom’s barrier was infallible. That it could never fall or be breached. But my persistence knows no end. I badgered two that owed me favors until they finally agreed to humor me. To them, they thought it would be a swift trip to the barrier and back. Maybe a couple of hours, tops. Yeah, as soon as we passed the barrier’s edge, nothing happened.

  We were all too powerful to make it through the barrier without a suppression item of some kind. The moment we tried to step through without one, the barrier would suck the mana from us without care for if we died or not. It would be like a starving vampire entering a hospital. And that didn’t even mention the pain it induced. From what I had heard from early players, the thing hurt like a bitch. Given that I wasn’t a masochist, I had not had a chance to experience the effect. Well, at least until now.

  As we got further into the protected zone we all realized that the barrier was indeed missing. As one, we agreed to split up. One returned to the front lines while the other raced to the capital to see what the fuck was going on.

  Me, I kept flying. I read the forums in the hopes of keeping up with current events as I raced toward Proxima and Alex. To retrieve the idiot before he did something stupid. “Message Alex: ‘I am almost to your location. Have you been paying attention to the in-game forums? – Xander’”

  It didn’t take the guy long to respond. My AI’s voice interrupted the page of gibberish that I had been reading. “Incoming message from user Kyren: ‘Not really, been a bit busy. Can we talk later? I am in a bit of a situation right now.’”

  See what I mean? He always seems to find trouble. He is a magnet for the stuff. As I closed the window I replied. “Reply, ‘Anything I can help with? I should be there in…’” I checked the clock and did some quick math before I continued. “‘Ten, maybe twenty minutes.’”

  “Incoming message from user Kyren: ‘Thank you for trying but by then it will be too late.’” Fuck. If only I hadn’t stopped to try and convince those two to come with me. Fuck.

  My eyes flew through my spell repertoire as I tried to find a simple haste spell or anything else I could use as a boost. Nothing I found would work. I could do nothing but pray that the griffin would be fast enough. So for the next little bit, I chewed on my nails as I willed the creature to go faster.

  The creature must have felt my need to get to my destination as fast as possible because it sped up. It managed to cut the ten-minute journey down to just under four. As we approached the north gate I saw plumes of smoke lifting high into the air as it obscured most of the chaos down below.

  While I knew that those below were low-level fighters in the midst of fighting for their lives they looked like they were playing to me. Each of them moved so slowly and their spells were weak and pitiful. None of these fighters looked at all ready to join the front lines. The sight reminded me as to why the barrier was in place in the first place. Even my weakest spell would wipe this city off the map and I wasn’t a mage.

  It also helped that the capital required travelers to get permission to enter a region so they could have someone watching them and making sure they didn’t do something stupid. Permission that I did not have. Permission that I did not have time to get. If I had tried then I would likely still be waiting for an answer due to all the bureaucratic bullshit. Now I just had to say sorry and take whatever punishment they decided on.

  Oh, the punishment wouldn’t be anything permanent. It would likely be something akin to a slap on the wrist. None of the guild leaders would be stupid enough to do anything more. Not when they needed my, and my guild's, skills to scout areas and dungeons. If anything, I would probably be ordered to do some border patrols. Maybe pay a few fines. Nothing hard.

  After a good half a minute of scanning the place for Alex, I gave up on this location. He was either dead, in hiding, or somewhere else. With a simple gesture, the griffin took us to the southern gate. While there were sounds of fighting here, it was between two people at most. As soon as we came into sight of the battle, I found that I was right, mostly. Standing over a defeated fox girl was a demon. He looked like he was gloating over his victory.

  Though, what got me about the sight was the number of people simple standing around the clearing. Beastman of all types were huddled together, watching as the fox girl got her ass handed to her while a few others were blasting at the locked door. You would think that at least one of them would have jumped in. Especially when everyone knew that none of their spells would break the locking bar that held the door closed. The thing was made of a wood from a tree that had been seeped in magic as it aged. It was denser and tougher than most anything in this region and for good reason. After all, it wouldn’t do for any monster to be able to beat your cities gate in.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Suddenly, a burst of mana emanated from the gate. It was powerful enough to splinter the bar but it didn’t stop there. The explosion shattered the wall and gate around the bar. Out of habit, I traced the spell back to the fox girl who sported a malicious grin. Almost as if she had won their battle even if she had to sacrifice herself to do so. To my surprise, the demon didn’t rant, rave, or such. He simply reverted to his human form as if the loss didn’t matter. As if he didn’t care about the rest of the group or that they were getting away.

  I didn’t hear what he said but whatever it was caused her to start to get up only to falter. Her body crashed to the ground in a heap. Just past the gate, a wolfkin was clawing at two people as they dragged him away. The demon’s curses pulled my attention back to the two of them just in time to hear the girl’s gutwrenching screams rip through the air before suddenly stopping as she passed out from whatever the demon had done.

  That scream broke me from my passive-observer state. Fuck the rules, this demon was going to die. It took me a moment to examine the demon. He was weak in comparison to some demons I had fought, but that didn’t mean I would go easy on him. As I jumped I activated Feather Fall, Light Step, Obscure, Mana Sense, as well as a few other skills. He didn’t react as I landed inside the dust cloud created by the gate's explosion.

  As I shifted to the side I noticed the two fangs that hinted at what type of demon I was facing. Well, that and the fact that he was lifting the girl's wrist to his lips in preparation to take a sip. Fucking gross-ass vampires. Bad enough when they are human but demonic vampires were annoying to go after. They favored classes that specialized in any form of blood manipulation as it gave them a decent advantage over most others. Not that this one would be able to use it against me.

  Without a sound or care, I moved behind the vampire and stabbed it through the skull and into its brain. A simple twist and pull later and the creature was as dead as his brain was mushed. Unfortunately for everyone, it wouldn’t last. He would simply respawn somewhere else.

  On queue, the creature’s body burst into crimson flames as it turned to ash. Consumed by the Demonking’s bastardized recreation of the traveler’s reincarnation system. Or at least that is what we were told by the few demons we had managed to interrogate.

  Like usual, the demon dropped an item, or in this case three. A useless sword meant for show rather than use, a small bauble, and the orb. As I picked up all three I tried to put them into my inventory. The first two went in fine, but the orb refused to follow. Annoyed, I pulled up its information and practically fell over as I laughed and cursed. “Oh fuck, he is going to kill someone over this.”

  The orb went into a pocket with a sigh as I looked down at the beautiful Kitsune. While I knew it was my friend, it didn’t diminish the lust I felt for the girl, guy, girl, fuck it, she looks like a girl so let us go with that for now. With a bit of hesitation, I picked her up and winced at the sounds of breaking bones.

  I was fairly sure she would kill me the moment she woke up for some of the things going through my head. Even if not in one hit, then with a thousand cuts. Honestly though, maybe it would be better if she could kill me in one hit. Then I wouldn’t have to suffer. It would be over and done and we could both move on.

  The griffin chose that moment to land in the courtyard with a loud thud. Its wings beat the air around it and blew what was left of the dust cloud. With Alex in a princess carry, I lightly lept onto the back of the creature. As soon as I was settled into the saddle with her cradled against me, the creature beat its wings a few times before it lept into the sky.

  I winced at the rumbling sound as several nearby buildings fell. The blast of air was enough to knock them over. This city was not built for anything stronger than maybe level thirty-five to live in. Yet here I was, a level forty-seven and that was considered low for where we were heading.

  As we flew, my mind wandered off, taking my emotions with it. Fear, joy, excitement, trepidation, and more flit through me as I thought about what had happened. What could have happened if I had been even a minute later. I also had to worry about Alex and whoever she took her anger out on. Which, given that I wouldn’t just dump her with a stranger, would likely be me. Maybe I should just keep the orb until she calmed down.

  Then again, that description about grudges…