Bab 5: Demon

Lucien does not have food in his person. He felt really bad because he did not take the chicken lunch box to this other world.

"Yes," Aiden replied. His mouth and body are really honest. The moment he said yes, his stomach growled in hunger as if adding truth to his 'yes'. Lucien inwardly chuckled. But his face is as stiff as a statue.

He scan the area based on his memory. The protagonist spent three years here before he found his way to the St. Louis Church.

What did the protagonist encounter to make him run five kilometers straight towards St. Louis Church? First demon sighting? Bullying? Are thugs coming after him? Lucien ran a one full body glance at the protagonist.

Surely the scene where he got beat up because he stole some bun from the vendor was just done. Luckily the bun went to the protagonist's stomach instead of having a naked bath in the dirt.

Lucien rack his brain. There was supposed to be a shelter just right outside of the town. That's where the protagonist hid in the night. But that was when he was about to make a run towards the St. Louis Church.

Is today the right day to follow the plot?

[To answer your question, dear host, today is January 7th. The same day the protagonist runs for his life for five kilometers. Dear host, please do not forget the new task issued by the system.]

Yeah, the task for bringing the protagonist to St. Louis Church right? I don't know I think I'm forgetting one important clue in here.

Lucien is racking his brains while pulling the protagonist with him. His fingers are interlaced with the protagonist's but his mind is elsewhere. Aiden watch every change in his expression. Studying… paying attention to the rise of Lucien's brows, to the slight curl of his lips.

Aiden watch it all happen in the span of one minute.

Is he worried? Aiden glance at the wound on Lucien's forehead. It was still bleeding. But the blood has run dry. The streets are blowing pieces of plastic dirt in the ground. The night is closing in. The broken street lamp keep going off.

Lucien pick up speed while trying to avoid the main road. After one hour of walking, they reach the end of the town. Lucien did not hesitate to walk inside the dark forest. The moon has not come out yet that is why the forest is as dark as the underground.

Despite all this, Lucien is not afraid of his night vision. He had walk around in his room and neighborhood at night. He can basically sketch the big road, the pile of trash bags, the houses, the store signage despite the surroundings being extremely dim.

Without any difficulty, Lucien is able to tread his path towards the cabin in the woods. The forest has downhills with leaves and broken branches on the ground. Making their footsteps louder than they have intended.

As they got near the forest, Lucien is able to see the silhouette of the cabin that is shielded by the bridge covered with willow vines. There's a century old willow tree in the center. Most of its vines surrounded and grow at the outline of the small cabin.

Lucien tried the door. It was locked. The wooden window beside the door has come off from the hinges. Lucien tried to slip his fingers in to reach for the lock inside. His hand made contact with the latch and he open it. The door swung open inside.

He searched for the lights in the pillar and switch them on. The cabin is small with lots of small dolls on the shelves. Each doll is sculpted on hand, the details are exquisite. The same identical blue eyes, the blond curly hair, the typical creepy smile of every doll in horror movies.

Everything is arranged according to size. The biggest one was at the bottom, while the smallest is at the top. Lucien studied the creepy dead eyes staring back at him. Aiden at his side did not dare to walk one step away from Lucien.

"Hello?" Lucien called into the house. No answer. Of course, he already know that no one is here tonight. Nor for many nights. Immediately after, Lucien take a sharp turn to the left, leading to the kitchen. While Aiden made sure to put the lock back on. He also slid the shelf to block the broken wooden window Lucien slid his hand earlier.

When Aiden followed Lucien, he saw him opening the fridge and taking out bread, water, jam, peanut and biscuits. Aiden's hungry stomach immediately reacted, grabbing for the bread.

Lucien let him be. He spread the jam to the bread and passed it to Aiden. He also wolfed down the bottle of water in the fridge.

After eating ten slices, that's when Lucien start to ransack the kitchen for food. He took a bag hanging in the living room and stuff whatever bread, biscuits and water he can find. He did not dare touch the meat in the fridge.

He went to one of the rooms and take extra set of clothes and four sets of knives from the kitchen.

After he made sure Aiden is well fed, he went back to the front door and turn off the lights. He also put the shelf Aiden move to its proper place before grabbing for Aiden's hand.

"Lucien, aren't we going to stay here and sleep?"

Under the ray of moonlight, it seems they have stayed here fair long enough. The full moon is rising high in the sky. Some rays slid through the cracks in the wall, illuminating Aiden's flush face. It seems after eating, he had natural color splash on his face.

"No. It's dangerous to stay here." Lucien briskly said. Pulling Aiden to the back door. Right after shutting the door, the door in the front door opened.

Both Aiden and Lucien froze.

There's a low growl coming out from the door. Lucien immediately tuck Aiden in his arms and stealthily run into the forest. The person at the front door seems to sense their noises and has sprinted toward the back door.

But Lucien and Aiden are a now bit farther from the cabin house. Lucien never stop running despite his tired aching legs. What do you expect? Lucien had never sprinted all his life while he spent nights locking himself in the room.

It was purely on instinct to run through the night. And a mere coincidence that he see another big willow tree not far from here. He made up his mind. Rather than recklessly running for his life, why not rather hide? He swung Aiden in his shoulders and begin to climb the willow vines. Unfortunately enough, his stiff tired legs gave away before he can climb half of the willow tree's height.

Aiden take the initiative to get off and climb up to the top. Aiden stretch his hand and clutch the willow vine in order to pull Lucien up.

Lucien's eyes went wide. Wow. That's some tenacity this protagonist possess. Even if he's injured, he still have the strength to pull him up.

Right when Lucien take a step to hide at the top of Lucien, they heard the growl again. Lucien and Aiden both froze. Lucien did not let the vine down and continued to clutch on it tightly.

The growl is coming from a distance away from them. And it's coming closer. Neither Lucien nor Aiden move.

Leaves rustling and twigs snapping came dangerously closer to them. Lucien see a shadow reflected in the moonlight. A shadow that shows the figure has two front horns and a hairy appearance.

When the figure draw near to the willow tree they are hiding in, it raise its nose to sniff upwards. The moonlight reflected half of its hideous face. Lucien's heart thump dangerously loud.

What's going on? This demon with two horns….. The demons in the 'Slaying the demon' anime are categorized by how strong they are based on the number of horns they have. One is the lowest, the ugliest trash, while seven is the nastiest at the same time the strongest demon ever existed.

The demon of hell who wiped out half of the demon slaying faction has seven horns. The Haven City which the demon slaying faction has its base is wiped out because of him. Not one house stood on the ground, not one human nor demon slayer escaped unscathed.

But that's not the immediate problem at this moment. It was this demon who has been following their scent the problem.

Lucien can almost pierce his palm with the vines he is holding. What's going on? Why did this two horned demon appear now?

This was the same demon who attacked the St. Louis Church and killed most of the adults who took Aiden and the other kids. This was the demon who enacted that nasty hide and seek game while eating each child as they scream for help.