CHAPTER 137: IT’S THE DARKEST BEFORE DAWN

The battle was fought with weapons and magic, with the bodies of the fighters covered in a thin layer of Holy power.

The importance of the priests and those with holy power had increased exponentially with the appearance of the demon. Now, everyone knew what the real threat was, and they fought with everything they had.

But the battle was not easy.

The things that the soldiers that the demon had created were something that possessed strength surpassing the creatures that they had been fighting until now.

There was something different about them as well... these creatures all possessed the eyes that the demon did, eyes that induced nightmares and made them into a fool.

The fight that went on did so in different stages. The Natives who were experiencing this battle for the first time could not help but wonder just how this was possible.

[A demon.]

For the natives who had only ever read about these beings, coming across one was a fantastical experience.

For the players, everything within the tower was a new thing, but for the natives, that new element in the world that the natives were well aware of was something they could not fathom.

This whole thing was strange, in fact.

The demon appeared out of the blue. They had appeared in this place out of the blye as well.

There was no explanation for how they got here. The teliportation magic that the mages used to transport such a large population could only be cast by the top mages, and there was no such being out here in these lands.

The system was an entity that the natives understood very well, but their understanding of the system was limited to the aspects of the system that they were familiar with.

This scenario, influenced by the elements of the higher floor, was something unreal. This was out of their level of understanding, so the natives did not try to comprehend what was going on.

There was a demon before them right now, and the demons were the enemies of humanity, and as such, they must defeat this creature at all costs.

Anything happens, they must kill that creature first. If they failed here, they knew they would fail their cities as well and, ultimately, everything they had fought for until now would be gone... and, for some reason, they could tell that it was the same for the players as well.

They were fighting not because they wanted to save the natives, but because they wanted to save their own homes.

They wanted to save their families as well; they wanted to save everything there was in their own world, in the lands that they came from.

If they failed here, the natives could tell the players would lose everything they had as well, which wasn’t the case; they were simply too scared of the demon and were doing everything that was being told to them– but the natives did not need to know that.

The floor was cleared, and now, the battle was for their own survival and for the ultimate resource that they could get, this floor in its entirety.

The natives did not know that losing this battle would mean losing access to the things within this floor, and the players did not want that.

Even if they could find new things on the upper floors, they did not want to take big risks. They could understand the urgency of their leaders in this situation, as losing the floor would mean losing access to a new civilization that still had too much to lose.

Thus, the players followed the orders that were given to them.

They fought while following the instructions. They fought with the will to survive and the will to win that battle.

There was nothing in their minds other than the words that were being spoken to them. They fought because they needed to win, and ultimately to fulfill the mission that they were originally here for.

They fought for themselves and for their families. For everything that humanity back in their world was praying for...

It was in their hands. Saving their homes and becoming a new person in their changed world, it was in their hands.

-Swiiiiiiiiiiish!

-BOOOOOOOOM!

-Swish! Swish! Swish!

So, they fought.

They fought against the demonic soldiers made of darkness with no form or facial features.

It was all like fighting against a doll.

But the doll was strong.

They fought, but without being arrogant. They knew they weren’t strong enough to defeat these dark soldiers on their own, so they relied on the holy buffs from the saintess and the priests.

They used the potions when needed to save the healing powers of the priests, and if they received severe injuries, they retired from the battle and went to the safe backlines.

The demon, intrigued at every new second, smirked at the players with a mouth that opened up in the darkness and revealed a galaxy filled with teeth lined in a spiral formation all around, like stars.

The demon was already dreadful, but the smile that it showed broke a new cold sweat on the players, as well as the natives.

They still hadn’t grasped the existence of the demon, and it did not seem like they would be able to do so either...

’The demon is a strange entity.’

Only Captain Rose, who seemed to have some experience against this being, could deal any real damage to this being of darkness.

Her frost sword, when touching the demon’s dark body, dealt a kind of damage that not even the holy powers of Dame Rose were capable of.

Be it Ziggy or KiRA himself, when they attacked the main body of the demon, all they could feel was a strange, metallic clash that was so tough that they almost bounced back against it.

When the demon sensed them getting too close, it would also release a kind of strange mist that would either melt the items they were wearing or kill them on the spot.

So, the players had realised they needed to make either surprise attacks or make sure the attacks were thrown from a distance.

-Swiiiiiiiiiish!

-Clank! Clank!

As the battle continued, they faced new challenges. The opponent, being a demon, could speak in the voice of the demons that corrupted everything around it, including the monsters who were already affected by the Red moon above.

The monsters that were affected by the demonic voice became demonic creatures and retired to fight against the new bunch.

By this time, new people were already fighting against the creatures in a way that made it impossible to focus on more than one thing.

It was either the demons or the monsters. And even among the demons, it was either the main body or the soldiers of darkness that were made by the main body.

Dealing with monsters would have helped them get more manpowers against the demon, and fighting the demon directly would affect the soldiers.

The soldiers were the weakest link since it did not seem like the demon was controlling them. Instead, they seemed to have a mind of their own as they moved to kill any and all of the humans that they came across.

The soldiers of darkness were following the will of their master. They followed it so well that the master himself had nothing to look out for.

The demon focused every bit of the strength that it had on the bugs that tried to get back at it.

The monsters were being dealt with by the natives while the players, now adapted and stronger than the natives, fought against the demonic beings.

The presence of the demon was corrosive. Their items, minds, and souls were being tainted by just being in the presence of the demon.

If these demons were disguised and moved to their world, they would easily kill hundreds of thousands just by existing there.

Their presence, the effects that they bring, and the way they absolutely do not care about anything that happens to them or their prey were aspects that made them true demons.

The enchanting demoness on the lower floor, at the very least, was something more humane than the actual demons.

She had been imprisoned for too long and had lost the ways of the demons, but this one, this one was different.

It had retained all its powers, memories, and the instincts that it had as a demon even after being imprisoned in this time loop.

The witch did make the whole curse to break the demons, but it had not yet finished what it was made for... and the witch had expected as much when she made and put the curse on the floor.

The battle that was being fought tonight, as the night started transitioning into a new day, was something they were not going to forget in any manner.

The demonic being was just one thing. It may still have a good portion of its power, but it was still a mere common demon.

It may have a name, but it did not have any actual designation within hell or their own faction.

The demons that have chased after the Witch must have had someone else in the lead that weren’t around anymore.

The witch must have dealt with all of them already, but now that this one was before them, the players could somehow guess what might have transpired back then.

[{ Master, I think the center is the backline. }]

[{ "Took you long enough, Uni." }]

[{ I will apologise for being too absorbed in your battle, master. }]

The battle was nearing its end as the sun’s first rays would appear on the horizon.

Soon, the red night would end.

But, unless this demon was killed, the true end would remain unfinished.

Thankfully, they had Captain Rose.

"I remember now."

As the Curse was made, the memories she had lost were being given back to her right before the dawn.

It was the brightest before the dawn, so, perhaps, it was meant to provide the brightest light to the curse bearer.

Or perhaps it was something else... the Captain who now stood before the lighter red sky, could only think about one thing right now.

And that, obviously, was victory.

Her first-ever one, in this lawless land.