SIDEREAE

Chapter 8

Sid gulped in nervousness as they're riding a horse to get to the contaminated forest. She's being accompanied by three priests, the holy knights, and the knights of Kroiss. Her hands were slightly trembling as she tightly held the horse's reigns.

She has no idea how to ride a horse, Sid never tried it in her real world and she has only seen a few of them in the zoo. They were allowed to ride the horses, but she was too afraid to try it before. She felt a little jealous, seeing the little Mathieu on top of the horse. Her dad and Mathy keep on urging her to try it, but she strongly declined, fearing the height and the thought of her falling to the ground.

Thankfully, Saintess Lucia's body was used in riding horses, which made Sid smoothly maneuver the big horse.

Sir Arthur ran his horse beside her, "Your Holiness, we're closing at the entrance of the forest. Please be careful."

"I understand."

As they got closer to the entrance, Sid felt a cold and prickly feeling, making her feel goosebumps all over her body.

Their company decided to leave their horses halfway from the entrance, before proceeding toward the contaminated area of the forest. The ominous feeling is getting stronger, and all of them move in caution. The knights unsheathed their swords and prepared themselves to engage in battle against the demons, at any given moment.

Sid gulped as they approached the contaminated area. They were welcomed by a thick and musky fog, that covered the whole place. The trees, grass, and flowers were all dyed in deep black, she also saw many dead animals in the forest. Some of them are still alive but barely breathing.

"I'll start the purification," Saintess Lucia announced to them. The Knights nodded in response, and the holy knights gathered around her, to protect her.

Sid closed her eyes and clasped her hands against her chest. She remembered the feeling of the divine powers flowing into her when she tried practicing how to control it through Saintess Lucia's memory.

She focused on searching for the core of her power and guided it to flow naturally on her body, like water flowing effortlessly through passageways. A warm and refreshing feeling coated her and bright lights enveloped her body, which radiated holiness as it burned brighter. She took a deep breath and opened her golden eyes.

"Purify!"

A blinding light explodes and scattered throughout the contaminated area. The bright lights pushed the darkness and eats the miasma as it mowed its way to cleanse the forest. The purified part of the forest turned back into its original luscious green color, which breathed life. Saintess Lucia continued to purify and managed to reduce the contaminated areas of the forest, as they ventured deeper toward the source of the miasma.

The leader of the Knights of Kroiss, Sir Sean, ordered his subordinates to halt temporarily and went toward the Holy Knights.

"Why don't we take a little break, before we proceed?"

"Hm. . .yes, let's do that. The Saintess also needs to take a little rest, since she's been using her divine powers consecutively," Sir Arthur agreed.

"Then, let's stop for 15 minutes," He suggested, and Sir Arthur nods.

"Sir Arthur, are we going to stop?" Saintess Lucia asked after Sir Sean left.

"Yes, Saintess. We'll move again after 15 minutes."

"Ah, that's great! I can rest and replenish my divine power. Although I only spend almost half of my powers, it's not wrong to be prepared. . . Especially, since I'm having a bad feeling about this."

"Did you feel something odd too?"

"Yes. Isn't it weird, that we haven't sighted any demons from the moment we entered the contaminated area? Usually, we encounter one or two of them, based on our experiences."

"I also think the same, Your Holiness. Of course, it is normal for them to protect the source of miasma. . ." Sir Arthur paused and looked toward the direction where the source, "but, it's concerning that we didn't see any demons on our way."

A serious look was cast over his face as he touched his chin.

"There is only one plausible answer that I can't think of, and that is, they are protecting it for a higher demon to appear. . ."

Saintess Lucia nodded at his hypothesis, "Your thoughts. . .there might be a possibility that it will happen. We should contact the temple immediately just in case! Since we aren't sure if a lesser or higher ranking demon will appear!"

"No—! Before that, shouldn't we retreat now, Sir Arthur?" She said with a grim look in her eyes, "We have no chance of winning if a high-ranking demon comes out!" "I'll tell the knights about this. Please, contact the temple in the meant."

"Okay!"

Sid, who was currently panicking, turned around to call his father Franco to contact the temple.

"Father Franco! Please contact the temp—!"

She stopped on her track and the knights momentarily paused, when they felt a dreadful aura exploding coming from the direction of the miasma's source. Sir Arthur, who was the first one to regain his senses, shouted in urgency,

"Come to your senses! We need to retreat quickly!"

The knights moved when they heard his loud voice. They immediately came back to their senses and readied themselves to retreat.

"Let's go!"

All of them moved as they increased their pace to flee the forest. Saintess Lucia's face was crumpled as she saw the black fog quickly overtaking the areas that she worked so hard to purify. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she felt the cold, unpleasant feeling become denser. She suddenly stopped running as she felt multiple vile energy rushing toward them.

"Saintess!"

"They're here!"

"What? Saintess, it's not time to stop moving. We have to leave quickly!"

"They're here! Sir Arthur, the demons are here!" She shouted with a trembling voice.

"Prepare for battle!"

The knights drew out their weapons as they took their formation in front of the saintess and the three priests.

"Please, stay behind," Sir Arthur said to her.

Saintess Lucia nodded. She clasped her hands once again and closed her eyes.

"Blessing!"

The Holy Knights' bodies became light and agile. Their strength was also increased, and their holy powers were amplified greatly. While the regular knights received a buff which increased their speed and strength. They were also given protection from a low level of corruption.

"Don't worry, we will support you from behind," She said, while the priests who were with her readied their powers to support them.

"Kiiiieeeeekkk!"

"Screeeaaaachhh!

"Creeeaaaaakk!"

Deafening shrieks exploded as the demons came rushing towards them. The knights quickly waved their swords against the demons who were running toward them.

Clang! Clang!

Keeeeikk! Keeeiikkkk!

"Holy darts!"

The priests cast an attack spell to cover the struggling knights, who have their hands full in fighting demons. Lucia also cast an Area Heal, to allow the knights to recover their wounds and replenish their energy in no time.

"There's a lot more coming!" Sir Sean informed them as the ground trembled at the sight of the larger demons from afar.

"Don't let your guard down!"

Sid grits her teeth, 'I don't want to die here.'

She doesn't know what will happen to her if she dies in this world. Will she also die in her world if she died here? She doesn't want that to happen. Sid still needs to find out the truth about her dad's death.

"Divine judgement!"

As soon as she cast the spell, an array of weapons appeared in the sky. The gold and silver weapons fell like heavy rain, killing and injuring the larger demons from afar. This allowed the knights to focus on their enemies.

"Don't lose your focus!"

Clang, clang, clang!

Kyaaaaak! Kreeeeehhhh!

Thanks to their joint efforts, the knights and the priests, and the saintess, managed to exterminate a large number of demons. All of them were tired because no matter how weak the demons are, the knights still suffered because of the huge gap in number. Lucia and the priests walked around to heal the injured knights. They were temporarily resting on the ground to recover their lost energy from the battle.

All of them decided to go back to the marquis' state for now and wait for reinforcement from the temple to completely eradicate the miasma. They don't want to gamble and enter the forest again, after experiencing an unforeseen situation. It was a good thing that no one was heavily endured and died in the process, thanks to the Saintess's assistance and protection.

They're in the middle of resting when suddenly, a large figure landed in the middle of the group.

Boom!

The impact was so strong that it created dust covering the surroundings and created a tiny crater from where the figure landed.

"Cough. . .cough!"

An ominous feeling coated the saintess body, as the dust slowly dissipate and the figure became clearer.

"A...aahhh!"

A shriek of fear came out from her lips as she met the fierce gaze of the demon, nailing her to her feet.

Sid saw a humanoid-looking creature, with bloody red eyes that gave a petrifying gaze. She also saw two long horns coming out from his forehead. It has sharp and uneven teeth that can tear human limbs easily. There are also two reddish black wings, sprouted from its back, and a long arrowhead tail.

This demon is clearly on a different level, far from what they just fought before. She can tell that the demons earlier were mere fledglings, while this one who was standing in the center was surely a higher-level demon.

"A, a less—!" She shook her head as her body trembled because of the aura that the demon was giving off.

"A lesser demon?" Father Franco said with uncertainty.

"A lesser demon? How rude." The demon spoke with his distorted voice, causing fear towards the normal knights, "I am a lord. A lord serving directly under the Archduke of Memphis."

Saintess Lucia, immediately cast a spell to protect the knights, "Lion Heart!"

"Saintess. . . your divine power is truly impeccable. The Archduke was right, we must kill you!"

"Saintess! Run!"

The holy knights shouted as the demon lord dashed in her direction.

Clang!

The sound of the swords and the sharp, hard claws of the demon clashed against each other. Sir Arthur and the holy knights barely managed to stop him from getting to her.

Sid stretched her arm and pointed at the demon, "Divine punishment!"

A golden bolt appeared on the tip of her forefinger. As the attack travels through the distance, the bolts multiplied and pierced the demon without hesitation.

"Kyaaaaakkkk!"

The demon shrieked in pain because of the holy bolts burning its flesh.

"You dare! Razor claws!"

His claws grew longer and attacked the holy knights who were blocking him. He swept his claws, cutting the knights in half as if they were a cake.

"Kuaaahhhh!"

"Saintess you must run!"

"Take the saintess away!" "Grrrraaaaaahhh!"

"Noo! Sir Arthur!"

She screamed in despair after witnessing the proud knight being cut in two. The priests and some knights forcefully took her away, while the others tried to block the demon as much as they could to give her time to escape.

"You damned insects! Get out of my way! Burn!"

"Aaaahhh!"

Sid closed her eyes at the unsightly scene of the knights dying like a dog, under the powerful demon lord.

"Saintess!" The demon roared and flapped his large wings to fly in their direction.

"Go, do not stop running!" Sir Sean said, and he stopped on his track along with some of his knights.

"No use! Kehahahaha!" The demon slaughtered them one by one without giving any effort.

"Kahahahahaha, humans truly are weak!"

"Gaaahhh!"

"Die, you demon!"

The battle didn't last that long, and Sid was the only one left standing in the middle of the forest.

"No, no. I-I can't die like this!"

She ran and ran and ran, hoping that she would be able to flee this damned forest. All of her companions died in an instant, and her divine powers were almost used up. She can't use divine retribution because she exhausted most of her powers from their previous battle by constantly healing the knights.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Flap! Flap! Flap!

The sound of the large wings was getting near her. The demon can kill her easily, but it was purposely slowing his ok pace to play with her, like a predator playing with its prey.

"Saintess!"

"Aaaahh! Get away from me!"

"Holy swords!"

Multiple swords materialized in the air and simultaneously attacked the demon lord.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

"Kuaahahahahaha! You can't kill me with this lousy attack since your divine powers are almost depleted."

He slightly unfurled his wings and darted toward her.

Bang!

"Keuk!"

Sid gasped.

"Kahahaha!"

The demon cackled as he tightened his grip around her neck. His movement was so fast that she had no time to avoid it, resulting in her being caught by this evil being.

"Urgh. . . Un-unhand me!"

"Hahaha. . .why should I do that? You look amusing wriggling like a worm, Saintess."

"Keeuh!"

"Hahaha, die!"