Slayers - Volume 6 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue

The night wind carried the faint scent of greenery.

If this were a large city, there would have still been raucous merrymaking going on in the bar on the first floor of the inn. But as I slipped out, there were no customers in sight. There wasn’t even anyone behind the counter.

Of course, that was to be expected out here in the sticks.

The gang and I were currently taking a back road to the Kingdom of Dils. This was the only inn in a town we’d stopped at along the way, and we were the only patrons I’d seen at the place. According to the man who ran the joint, it was more unusual for them to have customers than not.

How does he make a living, then? I wondered as I slipped out of my room and made my way outside.

I then wandered around the building. Obviously, I wasn’t going bandit bullying tonight. I was waiting for someone... and I didn’t have to wait long.

“Out for a stroll?” he called by the time I’d made it behind the inn.

The alleyway was shrouded in shadows cast by fencing, various carts, and piles of nondescript wooden crates.

“No...” I said quietly, shaking my head. “I was waiting for you, Xellos.”

“Oh?” The priest, dressed not unlike the shadows, reclined on the fence. “Why might that be?”

“I wanted to thank you for something. Tentatively, anyway.”

“Thank me?”

“Yes. After all was said and done, I think I finally figured out what you were doing.”

“And what’s that?”

“Holding back Raltark... And testing me, I think.”

“Oho...” Xellos responded in amusement before disappearing into the darkness. “And when did you realize it?” When I turned toward his voice again, I found him sitting atop the pile of wooden crates, his back to the moon. “That I was a demon, I mean.”

“More or less from day one, I think,” I said, a small smile on my face.

“Mazenda sealed my magic... which isn’t something a human should be capable of. I know, because I’ve studied it. So given how easily you defeated her, you’re clearly no ordinary human.”

“Ah... I suppose the jig was up from the start then, hahaha,” he laughed with his trademark airy unconcern. “You are indeed correct. Miss Mazenda was a demon like myself.”

“Yet you killed her, which suggests you’ve got your own business going on. That Raltark guy didn’t seem to be on your side either.”

“Now... that’s a secret,” he said, holding his finger up over his lips in the usual fashion.

If Xellos were just any human, I would’ve forced answers out of him... but unfortunately, I knew I couldn’t beat him. Not yet, anyway.

“But... yes, for now, I told Master Raltark that I wouldn’t reveal his identity if, in exchange, he wouldn’t reveal mine. Sort of a non-interference agreement... though it seems I had nothing to be worried about with you.”

“Well, I don’t think the others have caught on yet.”

“Master Gourry especially, I would assume.”

“Well, that’s the kind of guy he is...” I replied with a wry grin. “I’m pretty sure Zel and Amelia know there’s something weird about you, but I don’t think they’ve puzzled it out quite far enough to pin down the ‘demon’ part. By the way, Xellos, is that your real name?”

“I am Xellos the Priest... in service to Greater Beast Zellas Metallium. Though I’m on other business at the moment,” he said, matching my wry smile. “Originally, I was tasked with destroying the manuscripts. If chimeras like the one we encountered that night were produced in mass quantities... it would be one thing for fellow demons of my power, but my lower-ranking kin will be in considerable trouble. And, of course, the manuscript fragments are mere fragments—flawed fractions of the real thing. Otherwise, humans should have been able to control that chimera, you see. Something similar is true for the record in the Kingdom of Dils...”

“?!” I gasped reflexively. “You mean about the Lord of Nightmares?!”

Xellos flashed a rare grimace in response to my statement. “Please do not say that name so brazenly!” he barked. “A demon of my station is unworthy to hear it.”

Was it really that big of a deal? I’d always figured “the Lord of Nightmares” was just the strongest of the dark lords, but...

“At any rate, when I burned that last manuscript and reported back to Greater Beast... That’s when I was given my current assignment.”

“To keep an eye on me, you mean?”

“Let’s say... to protect and guide you, though I fear I cannot go into any further detail.”

“Wait a minute. You mean you sold me these amplification talismans before you were assigned to protect me?!”

“Of course.”

“Why would you sell something so powerful to someone who was a nobody to you at the time?”

“Ah, well...” A pained smile crossed Xellos’s face as he scratched at his cheek. “I suppose I was simply swept up in the moment.”

Man, what a weirdo...

“If I’m being honest, however, I had no desire to take part in this plan. Hellmaster spearheaded it, you see. I know that Hellmaster’s servants were destroyed in the Incarnation War a thousand years ago and he has none of his own now, but still... As Zellas’s priest, I don’t care for the treatment. I hope you won’t take offense, but being stuck protecting you... a mere human...”

“And that’s why you tested me. To see if I was worthy of all the fuss.”

I recalled Xellos’s scolding the night Zuma appeared: You really should be able to defeat an opponent of such mettle yourself... That must have been a challenge to me.

He nodded firmly.

“So? Did I pass?” I asked next.

“Candidly, I’m slightly less than satisfied... but with your latent potential and the help of your friends, I’d say you managed to scrape by.”

I couldn’t help but wince.

“By the way...” Xellos continued, his smile as broad as ever. “What do you plan to do now that you’ve confirmed I’m a demon? Force a reckoning?”

“Let’s see...” I thought for a minute. “I’ll probably keep it secret from the others for a while.”

“Oh?” Xellos hummed in amusement.

“I don’t like being manipulated,” I declared, thrusting a finger out at him, “but for now I don’t have a lot of choice in the matter. So go ahead and do your worst, I say. Except that’ll only fly if your identity stays a secret for now, right?”

“Much obliged,” Xellos said with brazen calm. “But if that’s how you truly feel, why confront me about it in the first place? Wouldn’t it have been more to your advantage to play dumb?”

“I wanted to clarify what’s going on around me. I also wanted you to know that you aren’t really manipulating me; I’m letting myself be manipulated. I know it’s really six of one, half a dozen of the other, but still... It just annoys me, y’know?”

“I see.” Xellos nodded, his smile turning strained. “I heard you were no ordinary human... and I see now how true that is.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“The highest flattery there is. At least, for a demon speaking to a human.”

“So... where are we supposed to go next?”

“Ah, yes. Let us carry on...” Xellos gestured with the staff in his hand toward the moon in the western sky. “We shall proceed to the northern reaches of the Kingdom of Dils... where the original Claire Bible lies.”