Slayers - Volume 7 - Chapter 2

2: To Dragons’ Peak in Search of Legend

The city was now horrifically ablaze. Flames crackled, people fled in panic, screams rang out, and destruction spread.

“What have they done?” I whispered, staring blankly at the scene.

Though hidden by all the fire and smoke, the demon still had to be nearby. I couldn’t believe he’d launched into such an indiscriminate attack just to kill me... It was unconscionable.

I heard another roar—another attack, perhaps. I guess he was planning to raze the city to keep me from escaping. Or maybe this was just the only way his power worked. Either way, I couldn’t let it continue.

There was only one way to keep the devastation to a minimum, though: I had to lead the jerk out of town myself! So, yeah... not a plan I was rushing into with unbridled glee, but letting an entire city go up in flames on my behalf wasn’t gonna help me sleep at night.

I quickly began to chant a high-speed flight spell—a risky maneuver. I wouldn’t be able to cast any serious attack spells while I was using it, meaning I’d be down anything that could harm a demon. Worse yet, the wind barrier it produced wouldn’t keep me safe from any demonic attacks that happened to come my way mid-flight. But what was a girl to do? I couldn’t exactly break out the big guns in the middle of the city anyway, so escape-by-sky it was. No way in hell was I making it out of there on foot, after all.

“Lei Wing!”

Wreathed by a barrier of wind, I took off into the air. I soon caught sight of the demon darting through the black smoke that covered the town. It stopped and hovered before me. Hang on... this was a different demon than before! It had skin the color of a drowning victim, with a single large eye in the middle of its face.

There’s more than one of them? Are they trying to surround me?!

Before I could even react, it fired a black shockwave in my direction! I quickly manipulated my spell to dodge it and take me further out of the city.

Yet before I could get far, another demon appeared to block my path! Ugh! Gimme a dang break already! The new arrival threw a glowing javelin of energy directly at me on sight. As I tried to take evasive maneuvers...

Whoom!

“Geh!” I coughed as a wave of heat and force rushed over me.

Damn! Did that come from the one behind me?!

I was mostly unharmed courtesy of my wind barrier, but momentarily distracted nonetheless. When next I looked up, the energy javelin was just inches away! Crap! I wouldn’t be able to evade it in time! It passed easily through my wind barrier and—

Vwip! With a tiny sound, it literally vanished before my eyes.

What just happened?! I wondered numbly for a second. I looked up and saw the demon who’d thrown the javelin was now focused on something behind me. The next moment, a figure appeared beside the demon, and the demon’s body shattered. That left only the new figure hovering there...

Priest Xellos, servant of Greater Beast.

I turned back to see that the demon chasing me was gone as well. Xellos must have destroyed that one too. He’d shown up out of nowhere, neutralized the energy javelin, then effortlessly slain both demons pincering me.

Xellos was every bit as... No, he was far more powerful than I’d thought.

He mouthed something while pointing to the ground below. My wind barrier made it impossible for me to hear him, but I assumed he was asking me to land. I nodded slightly and descended through the smoke to the avenue below, which was swirling with heat. Xellos touched down next to me a moment later. Everyone nearby must have fled the city already, as I could sense no one else around us.

“My, my... It seems I was a bit too late. How careless of me,” he said unconcernedly, his smile unchanged in spite of the situation. “I’m starting to think the attack back in that roadside village was all a ploy to separate us... Really, I never thought Master Raltark would debase himself by playing the decoy. Hahaha.”

“Don’t ‘hahaha’ me! Anyway, we should get outta here. I’m not really itching to get fried to a crisp... By the way, did you beat Raltark?”

“Oh, as a matter of fact...” Xellos smiled abashedly as we walked side by side down the city street bathed in the orange glow of flames. “I fear he gave me the slip... Most troubling. Hahaha.”

“Not funny!”

“Well, after all... he is a Priest himself. That puts us on equal level in terms of rank... But I must say, I had no idea how many of them were camped out in this city. There’s so much going on in the world, isn’t there?”

“Argh! Stop talking about this like it’s some amusing trivia! Can’t you at least use your power to put out the fires?! Those demons went nuts and started attacking the place wholesale!” I shouted.

At that, Xellos replied with a troubled smile, “I fear my knowledge of water and ice magic is...”

“Darn it! You’re so useless at times like—” I stopped before I could finish. I’d spotted a boy fallen by the roadside up ahead. There was a red stain spreading on the ground around him, like he’d been hit with a piece of burning rubble.

Eleven or twelve years old, most likely. Slightly wavy black hair. I recognized him. Yeah... It was the kid who’d tried to snatch my purse in town.

“Hey! Are you okay?” I ran over to him and reached out, but...

Oh no...

He was already cold. I rose to my feet, letting Xellos take my place kneeling next to him.

“His heart is not beating,” he declared.

“I know that!” I shouted angrily in response to his apparent indifference.

I said a silent prayer for the departed boy, then finally started walking again. My teeth were clenched. I had to... I had to put a stop to this. But despite my best intentions, the demons were still too powerful for me. Which meant...

“Well, what are you going to do now?” Xellos asked, interrupting my thoughts. “I could hardly advise remaining in this city...”

I know that. Staying here any longer will only make things worse... which means my next move is obvious.

“I need to... regroup with the others,” I said, my voice hushed. “We’ll leave town immediately. And if I can’t find them...” I fell quiet for a moment, then said plainly, “I’ll go find the Claire Bible myself.”

Vwoosh! A beam of light was suddenly streaking toward me, piercing through the wind and fire.

“Ngh?!”

I quickly dodged the ray, and just as quickly saw a demon charging in its wake. However...

Bwush! Almost the instant it arrived, Xellos launched an attack. I’d have a hard time describing exactly what had happened, but the end result was, let’s say, one highly pulverized demon head.

How many had he killed now? It had to be over ten, but I’d long stopped counting.

Xellos and I were currently wandering the city in search of Gourry and the others. We’d yet to find them, and demons just kept crawling out of the woodwork in the meantime.

It was almost hard to believe that one city had this many hiding in it... The guys we were seeing were roughly on par with the demons I’d fought before—the likes of Seigram and Vizea—but Xellos was so powerful that he was squashing them like bugs. He’d instakilled every single one that had shown up so far. I was starting to feel like the damsel in an old heroic saga—just here for looks.

After a bit more walking, Xellos stopped abruptly and wrapped me in his cloak with a flourish. I scowled in confusion, when all of a sudden...

Bwooooom! A series of explosions erupted around us! The extreme heat and pressure caused the buildings on either side of us to buckle, and the ground below to boil with a red glow. But thanks to Xellos’s protection, I barely felt a thing.

When the light of the explosions at last died down, I could see a human figure slowly approaching from beyond the heat haze. His silver armor and naked blade both glinted vermilion in the firelight. He stopped a short distance ahead of us.

“You ruined everything...” said a familiar voice, steeped in anger.

The armor this man wore was clearly of the Kingdom of Dils. As I suspected... it was General Rashart. His eyes, smoldering with rage, were fixed not on me, but on Xellos. He must not have been pleased at the interference in his assassination plot.

“I believe this is our first meeting... General Rashart,” Xellos hailed in a voice that could even be called friendly.

“Our first... and our last,” Rashart replied, stepping forward. “For some reason, Sir Raltark told me to stay away from you, but...”

“Things have gone too far for peace to be an option, I’m sure,” Xellos said with his usual smile, as if to egg the guy on.

“Of course! We’ll see who survives—the Priest or the General!”

My first taste of Rashart’s radiating hostility had me scrambling backward posthaste. A collateral hit from the power these guys unleashed as they fought could prove deadly.

“Hrragh!” Rashart howled. The blade in his hand flashed purple and changed shape.

Had he channeled his power into a mundane sword, transforming it into a magical demon-slaying weapon?!

“Hah!” Rashart then cried out, firing a black ball of energy from his hand at Xellos. He then leaped right after it, charging Xellos himself!

And Xellos... didn’t dodge! Rashart’s orb smashed straight into him!

Fwoom!

I quickly ducked to dodge the ensuing explosion of black light and miasma. I’m sure Xellos didn’t bother to do the same because he knew he could tank it. Rashart must have realized as much himself—the blast was merely a distraction.

Before it completely died down, Rashart heaved his magical sword high and leaped forward shouting, “Die, Priest!”

Zing! A sharp sound rang out in time with his battle cry.

When the smoke cleared moments later, the sight that greeted me was... Xellos, run through by Rashart’s sword?! No, it was—

Whunk... Something flew toward me and impaled itself in the ground at my feet. It was part of Rashart’s blade. It crumbled in the wind as I watched, first returning to its original shape before disintegrating into a small pile of silver sand. Xellos must have done something to break the enchanted sword just before it pierced his corporeal form.

“What?!” Rashart gawked, then pulled back what remained of his weapon, which had snapped without putting so much as a single scratch on his opponent.

“Shall I tell you?” Xellos asked with his usual smile. “Why Master Raltark bade you not come after me?”

Before those words finished leaving his mouth... Vwomm!

“Graaah!” Rashart let out an echoing scream. Something like a drill—as black as night and as tall as a person—had appeared from thin air and impaled his midsection!

“It’s because... you don’t stand a chance against me on your own.”

Vwomm!

“Graaaaah!” Rashart cried as a second black drill speared him, this time through the chest.

“Chaos Dragon created one Priest and one General to serve as his emissaries... but Greater Beast created only me,” Xellos said casually. “In other words, the same amount of power that Chaos Dragon split between you... Greater Beast imbued in me alone. So to stand a chance against me, the two of you— General Rashart and Priest Raltark—would have to work together... Or Chaos Dragon himself would have to put in an appearance.”

Vwomm! A third black drill skewered Rashart.

Of course... In that moment, I finally realized the nature of the power that Xellos wielded. Those black drills were an expression of it... the power to shatter a target without ever making physical contact. Xellos could warp them through space, penetrate his target with them, and unleash their power from within.

That, or else maybe... were those drills actually Xellos’s true form on the astral plane?! I could feel goosebumps rising up all over my body. He was on my side for now, but some day, he would be my enemy. When that time came... would it be possible to beat him?!

With Rashart’s body still speared on his black drill, Xellos at last said with a smile, “My, my. I’m sorry to be so rude, but we simply don’t have time to waste. It’s a shame to say goodbye so soon after meeting... Hahaha.”

His laugh was as casual as ever, and as it hung in the air, I heard a familiar voice exclaim from behind us...

“What?!”

Erk... I turned timidly around to see who it was, and, just as I’d feared, I spied none other than Gourry, Zel, and Amelia.

Crap! I’d been too distracted by Xellos to notice them arriving on the scene! It was Zelgadis who’d cried out in disbelief at what he was seeing.

“Oh?” Xellos hummed, momentarily distracted by our new arrivals as well.

By the time I turned back toward the demon brawl, Rashart was gone... leaving Xellos’s black drill hovering unadorned in the air.

“Ah, he escaped by making use of such a fleeting distraction. He’s not a General for nothing, I suppose,” he said almost indifferently, with a shrug. As he was talking, the black drill that had cut quite literally out of thin air dissolved on a passing breeze.

“What just happened?!” Zel harped. “And Xellos! What... What the hell are you?!”

“Are you... a demon?!” Amelia whispered breathlessly.

Yeah, no surprises with those reactions. Anyone with the slightest bit of magic knowledge could tell that what he’d just done wasn’t exactly “normal human” stuff...

Xellos cast a silent glance in my direction.

Leaving the cleanup to me, huh?

I let out a soft sigh and said, “Okay, I’ll tell you guys everything I know... but first, we need to get out of this city.”

“I don’t like this,” whispered Zelgadis in expected objection.

The five of us—Xellos included—had departed Gyria and were now holed up in a small hunting cabin we’d found in the foothills some distance from the city. It was here that I’d explained, in fits and starts, everything that had led up to our current predicament.

When I’d realized for sure that Xellos was a demon. That he was trying to take me to the Claire Bible for some yet unknown reason. What happened at the Gyria City palace. That General Rashart really was a demon. That he’d gotten my guard down, locked me in a room, and tried to kill me. That a group of demons had cornered me with indiscriminate attacks. And lastly, that Xellos had come to save me.

My three allies simply listened to my story in silence. It was actually a pretty long time before Zel finally made that first displeased comment.

“So... you basically knew from the start, Lina?” Amelia whispered huskily in turn.

“I had a vague suspicion, I guess.”

“I wish you’d shared it with us,” Zel said unhappily.

I mean, the reason I hadn’t was because I knew they’d never play along... But, yeah, touché. What I’d done was tantamount to tricking them. I had no excuse.

“Now,” Zel said, turning his eyes from me to Xellos, “what’s your real game, exactly?”

Xellos, who was sitting in a corner of the cabin, responded in the usual fashion, “That... is a secret.”

“You...!” Zel shouted, rising to his feet.

“Don’t!” I quickly stopped him.

“Why not?!” he demanded.

I hesitated for a minute, then said, “Xellos is... really strong. Probably stronger than all of us here.”

My words silenced Zelgadis for the time being. He continued to glare at Xellos, but eventually clicked his tongue and sat back down.

“So...” Amelia asked in a quiet voice, “what do we do now, Lina?”

“I’m going to try to find it... The Claire Bible. I know this is giving Xellos exactly what he wants, but refusing to do it isn’t exactly gonna get the other guys off my back... So for now, it’s my only recourse,” I said, then fell quiet.

“I’m not a fan of giving demons what they want,” Zel said contemplatively. “But abandoning this now would feel like turning tail and running, and I don’t like that either...”

“Same,” Amelia put in. “Now that I know that Master Xellos— Ahem! Now I know that Xellos is a demon, an agent of darkness, I cannot simply agree to do his bidding. That said... something does seem to be brewing around you, Lina. I need to find out if it’s a force of good or evil, and thus determine whether to assist or stop it! Although, if I’m technically abetting a demonic plot by doing so...” There, she folded her arms and fell deep into thought.

“That leaves...” It was Xellos who broke the new silence. “Master Gourry. What do you intend to do?”

“Who, me?” Gourry scratched at his cheek, apparently surprised at being called upon for his opinion. “I mean, nothing’s really changed...”

Uh, has too!

“You think nothing’s changed, Master Gourry?!” Amelia shouted, bearing down on him. “That man’s a demon! A demon! A being that dwells in darkness, propagating fear and ruin! The mortal enemy of all living things! A servant of destruction! We’re traveling with something more vile than any vermin!”

“Er, that all seems a bit much...” Xellos whispered.

Meanwhile, the seemingly unfazed Gourry replied, “Well, I’ve kind of had this feeling he was a demon for a while...”

...

“Whaaat?!” everyone else cried out in shock.

“G-Gourry?! When in the world did you realize?!” I asked.

“Well... the first time I met him, I guess,” he said as if it were perfectly natural. “I don’t know how to put it, but he sort of had that smell to him... I could just tell, you know?”

Man... he was really sharp in the weirdest ways.

“And you’ve ignored it this whole time?!” I barked.

“I didn’t exactly ignore it. But you were pretending like it didn’t matter, so I figured you had a plan.”

Er... I didn’t have a comeback for that. I mean, that basically meant he trusted me, right? That’s... actually kinda nice of you, Gourry!

“Then it seems you’ll continue accompanying Lina either way,” Amelia concluded.

“Well, I am her guardian,” Gourry responded, patting me on the head.

“That leaves the matter of what Master Zelgadis and I shall do... and we cannot decide until we know precisely what’s going on,” Amelia whispered, before glaring sharply at Xellos. “So confess, villain! Just what are you up to?!”

It was a nice try, but I knew there was no way Xellos would take the bait.

“I cannot answer that,” he responded. (Called it!)

“Aha, so there’s a reason you can’t tell us! Perhaps because you’re using Lina for evil, hmm?!” She then declared triumphantly, pointing in an accusatory fashion, “I won’t let you get away with it! If you insist on keeping quiet... I have a few ideas of my own!”

“And what, pray tell, might those be?” Xellos asked, partly in amusement.

Amelia replied with a daring smile, “If you won’t talk... I’ll spend all night whispering to you, ‘Life is wonderful!’”

“Ngeh?!” Xellos grunted in alarm, apparently quite shaken by Amelia’s threat.

“Hah! You demons who feed on negative emotions cannot tolerate paeans to the beauties of life, can you?!”

Actually, I think more than a few non-demons would balk at that too...

“H-Hellmaster never revealed the details of his plan to me!” Xellos quickly professed.

“He didn’t, huh?” Amelia asked with a dubious glare.

“I swear! Four of Ruby-Eye Dark Lord Shabranigdu’s five servants—Lord Hellmaster, Lord Deep Sea, Lord Dynast, and Chaos Dragon—created Priests and Generals to act on their behalf. But my own master, Lord Greater Beast, created me alone. Most of the demons’ recent doings have been at the behest of Lord Hellmaster. He would normally send his errand Priest to do his bidding, but, well... his servants were all destroyed in the Incarnation War a thousand years ago, you see. It’s really quite a bother. Hahaha.”

Why are you laughing about that?

“So the job has fallen to me, a servant of Lord Greater Beast. But Lord Hellmaster is a bit of an odd duck in some ways... He’ll send me off to do this and that, but never tell me what it’s all for.”

“Makes sense... You can’t spill beans you don’t have,” Gourry said, apparently taking Xellos at his word.

“What do you think of his story?” Amelia asked, turning to the rest of us without even trying to hide her suspicion.

“We can’t exactly trust it, but I doubt we’ll be able to get any more out of him,” replied Zel.

“Well, I was able to glean a couple of things from what he’s already told us,” I added.

“Like what?” Amelia asked curiously.

“Like that Chaos Dragon Gaav has been alienated from the rest of the demons, and that he’s after me for some reason.”

“Ah...” Xellos said, raising his voice in surprise. “How, precisely, did you come to that conclusion?”

“Chaos Dragon is the only one you didn’t refer to as ‘Lord.’”

“...”

My simple observation left Xellos at a loss for words.

“Plus, you seemed pretty flippant about the guy in your fight with Rashart earlier. Of course, that doesn’t explain where I come in to all this... and what I do next might change depending on what exactly Chaos Dragon is planning,” I continued.

I didn’t know if Chaos Dragon was just on bad terms with his brethren, if he was plotting something even worse than the rest of demonkind, or if his big plan would somehow turn out to be a net positive for us humans... Like I said, how I behaved from here would change significantly depending on that information.

Until recently, his minions had been abiding by a “don’t hurt innocent people” policy, but that didn’t necessarily mean they were on humanity’s side. It could just be that they knew anything too flashy would draw the attention of their enemies—Hellmaster and Xellos. Or perhaps they were merely trying to get on humanity’s good side to exploit them as needed.

The situation in Saillune before and the current happenings in Gyria City didn’t really seem like traps specifically laid out to catch me, but rather existing plots to infiltrate the top ranks of large kingdoms... that I just so happened to barge in on. That suggested their real goal was to get as many humans as possible in their thrall. That way, when the time came—for instance, when a full-on demonic civil war broke out—they could use said humans as sacrificial pawns.

“It seems the only way to get to the bottom of this is to play along,” Amelia whispered, a pained expression on her face.

“Yeah... I don’t like doing a demon’s dirty work, but I still don’t like the idea of running away any better. And, frankly, I’m also pretty curious to see where this is all going. I’ll tag along for now,” Zel added in brusquely.

“Thanks, you guys...”

“Don’t get the wrong idea here, Lina,” Zel clarified. “I said I’m tagging along for now, but the minute we find out what Xellos’s faction and Chaos Dragon are planning... I can’t speak for Gourry, but Amelia and I might have to turn on you.”

“Yeah... I guess that figures,” I whispered.

What would I do if that happened? Ugh, don’t go there, Lina! No borrowing trouble!

“Either way, no way to go but onward!” I declared. “So spill it, Xellos! Where’s the Claire Bible already?!”

“Oh, not far,” he responded easily. “She lies just between here and the Kataart Mountains... at Dragons’ Peak.”

Word had it that Dragons’ Peak was home to a good many golden and black dragons. The Gyria City sorcerers’ council records mentioned that once long ago, they all took flight for some reason and it blotted out the sky with black and gold.

Other than the deimos dragons that lived strictly in the Kataart Mountains, golden dragons and black dragons were the two most powerful species of dragonkind. A large number of them just happened to cluster on this rather small peak.

I’d always wondered why. It wasn’t like this was the only place they could live. I’d met a few golden and black dragons in other locations myself. Some sorcerers theorized that the denizens of Dragons’ Peak kept the demons of the Kataart Mountains in check, but given the legends of the demons’ overwhelming power... I found it hard to believe any would ever cower in fear of dragons.

So why, then, did the dragons band there? The answer was apparently that they were protecting the Claire Bible. This, of course, begged the question of whether or not they’d be willing to hand it over to a ragtag bunch with a demon like Xellos in tow... But one way or the other, we wouldn’t know until we got there.

We’d so far avoided the main thoroughfares on our way to Dragons’ Peak, and at present, we were passing through a vast, nameless forest at the foot of the mountain. You couldn’t even call the narrow path we were traveling a road. It wasn’t much more than a game trail.

Many branches along the way had clearly been cut down, meaning humans had to use this route too... but I wondered who. Hunters? Or perhaps by the rumored messengers sent from Gyria City?

“By the way, Xellos...” I called to him from behind as we walked, pushing through tall grass and low-hanging branches. “If you demons know the dragons have the Claire Bible, why do you let them keep it? Is there some reason you can’t enter Dragons’ Peak?”

“Oh, not at all. I’ve never been told why we let it remain there, but... a book of otherworldly magical technologies is essentially useless to demons. We rely on our innate powers alone, you see, so perhaps it was never considered worth picking a fight over,” he said without turning back.

“But you were on a mission to burn its manuscripts, right? You said that even if they weren’t a threat to a demon like you, they could be to the lower-ranking ones.”

“Only in the hands of humans,” he said as he snapped a branch blocking his way. “Dragons have magical power far superior to that of humans, it’s true. So if they were to use the information contained within the Claire Bible, they could certainly pose a threat to demons. But perhaps instinctively—or out of faith in their own abilities—they make no attempt to use tools, much less store or pass down magical technologies. In that respect, they’re similar to demons. Most of the Claire Bible’s knowledge is a proverbial white elephant to them... They watch over it so that it won’t fall into reckless human hands, but they have no use for it themselves.”

“Hmm, but still—”

“Hey,” Gourry piped up, interrupting me. His nose was twitching. “Do you smell something burning?”

“Huh?”

On cue, the group stopped and sniffed at the wind. There was a smell carrying faintly among the green scent of the trees...

“You’re right,” Amelia whispered, and then—

Bwoosh! A howl rose up all around us, and with it, the trees burst into flame!

“What?!” the group shouted in unison as the heat from the blaze swept over us. Xellos alone stood there unperturbed.

“I see... So you’re resorting to this now, are you?” he said, his eyes falling upon an old gentleman standing nearby.

“Raltark?!” Amelia and I cried in the same breath.

Go figure... Dude was planning to roast us all alive. He’d craftily started the conflagration a good distance away so that Xellos wouldn’t notice until it was too late.

“Hmm... it is a bit of a desperate measure, true,” the old man said with a note of self-recrimination as he slowly weaved through the trees to approach us. “I haven’t enjoyed watching you foil all my plans... so I wanted to score a decisive point for our side. First... I think I’ll finish that girl there,” Raltark said, glancing my way.

“What’s going on here?” I called to Raltark loudly. If Xellos couldn’t explain things, maybe this guy would. “Why exactly are you trying to kill me? At least fill me in! Depending on your answer, I might even go along with you!”

“Miss Lina!” Xellos cried out reproachfully.

Oh, shut up. The whole “just shut up and do as I say” bit isn’t some kind of moral high ground!

Raltark kept his eyes on Xellos as he replied to me, “You remember one of our kind called Mazenda, yes?”

“I do.”

“She came to us with certain information, though I know not how she learned it... ‘Hellmaster is up to something. He’s about to put a major plot into motion. I don’t know why exactly, but it hinges on a human named Lina Inverse.’”

Wait, don’t tell me...

“Hold it! You mean the only reason you’re trying to kill me is because of some plot Hellmaster cooked up, the details of which you don’t even know?! That’s nonsense!”

“Hardly nonsense... An abundance of caution, if you will. Though I suppose it’s more or less the same from your perspective,” Raltark admitted readily enough.

You’re kidding me... How unlucky does a girl gotta be to have people trying to kill her out of “an abundance of caution”?

Granted, human life had no value to demons in the first place. This was no different from them saying, “This worm could be the larva of a poisonous insect, so we’d better squash it now.” Except the squasher having a good reason was cold comfort for the squashee!

With little consideration for my irritated internal monologue, Raltark continued his leisurely speech, “We didn’t precisely believe her at first, but eventually Kanzel, who was on an operation in Saillune, reported the arrival of someone by your name. That should have been the extent of your interactions, yet... Kanzel decided he’d eliminate you, just in case. As we all know, he met his end for the trouble. But Kanzel, we thought, killed? By a mere human?

“Someone else killed Mazenda soon after, and the organization we’d sent her to infiltrate fell apart... You were revealed to be involved in that as well, and I decided I wanted to meet you personally. I found Seigram, who burned with hatred for you, and fused him with a human who felt the same way... But I was surprised to find Sir Xellos at your side. I began to wonder if Mazenda’s intelligence was accurate after all—”

“Master Raltark, might I humbly interrupt your attempt to waste our time?” Xellos said quietly, cutting him off.

He was right—this was no time for a long-winded story. The flames cloaking the area were slowly approaching us from upwind. Maybe demons were cultured(?) enough to stand chatting in an inferno, but the rest of us couldn’t afford to stick around.

“My, I suppose I did drag on a bit there. Regardless, I have no intention of letting the girl go.”

As if on cue, another figure slowly emerged from the flames behind Raltark... It was General Rashart. The last I’d seen him, he was clad in the trademark silver armor of Dils, but he now wore a dark red suit of plate styled after a dragon. The naked blade in his hand was larger than the magic sword he’d wielded before, too. This was most likely the General’s true form.

“We meet again, General. You don’t look well. Are you in poor health?” Xellos said calmly.

Anger flashed in the General’s eyes, but he remained silent as he stood next to Raltark.

Of course, the flames were encroaching all the while. The heat wasn’t unbearable yet, but it was getting worse by the second. I’d have loved nothing more than to book it up into the sky, but there was no way we were escaping with Raltark and Rashart watching us. We’d have to wait for Xellos to engage them.

“With Master Rashart in such condition, I don’t think the two of you can beat me, even together,” he continued tauntingly.

“I’m quite aware,” Raltark agreed easily. “I was hoping we might at least hold you in place while the girl roasts to death.”

“I fear I can’t allow that to happen... Now, please take care of Miss Lina,” Xellos said to the rest of our team without taking his eyes off of our two enemies.

A dark feeling—not quite miasma and not quite hostility—filled the area, pushing back against the choking heat.

Here we go... I thought. And a second later, all three demons were gone. They’d probably chosen to fight where their real forms resided—on the astral side of reality, rather than here on the material one.

“Guys! Let’s get a move on while the three of them are off in their own little world!” I rallied.

“But how, Lina?!” Amelia cried in response. “We don’t have time to put this whole fire out, and floating over it with Levitation will cook us alive! You’re the only one who can use Lei Wing!”

“Don’t worry! If we rustle up a double wind barrier for everyone—with a minor cold spell cast inside for good measure—and then use Levitation on that, our gooses should stay uncooked.”

“I see... Like what we did in Sairaag, eh?” Zelgadis whispered in response.

Exactly. Except back then, we’d expected an attack and used defensive magic too...

“What should I do?” Gourry asked.

“Just come along for the ride, man. Though I’ll bet Raltark and Rashart brought more with them than just a firestarter. They could have buddies lurking nearby. I’d like someone on standby for attack spells...”

“That’ll be your job then, Lina,” Amelia said with a wink. “You have the strongest black magic repertoire here. I’ll handle the barrier and the cooling. Master Zelgadis, you’re in charge of reinforcing the barrier and moving us, okay?”

“Right,” Zelgadis responded.

Amelia then began her chant. In a matter of seconds, a rather large wind barrier enveloped the four of us. Zel cast a spell of his own to strengthen it.

There were no signs of new enemies yet, but I knew we couldn’t afford to let our guard down. Soon, responding to Zel’s control, the wind bubble began to rise up... taking us all with it. It slowly wafted over the flames in the direction of Dragons’ Peak.

Looking down from above, we could see the conflagration had already consumed a wide swath of the forest. Darn it... Did these guys not know the meaning of restraint?

Eventually, our bubble arrived over the heart of the inferno, but Amelia’s cooling spell kept us from feeling the heat. I was hoping for smooth sailing from here on out, but...

“They’re here!” Gourry soon shouted as three figures appeared atop the blazing forest!

They were just hovering in the air, silently surrounding our wind barrier. Need I even say it? They were demons. One was clad in what looked like tattered white cloth with a black mask; one looked like thin blue mist with a featureless blue face; one was shaped like a human, but had a transparent body like water or ice. They all looked like small fry, but that was compared to Xellos and his ilk... They could still pose a serious threat to humans.

In terms of numbers—four against three—we had the advantage. In a normal battle, our odds would be pretty good... But right now, I was the only one who could really fight. Zel and Amelia were fully occupied maintaining our barrier, keeping us moving, and keeping us alive. Gourry had a weapon that channeled its wielder’s will into a blade of light capable of cutting through magic and demons, but... legendary though it was, it was still a sword. There wasn’t much he could do to stop attacks from outside our barrier bubble.

Aha, of course... This was the reason Xellos’s playtime pals were comfortable leaving us here. They knew we’d get toasted if we stayed, or caught if we tried to escape. Smart demons. Just destroying our barrier would be enough to send us tumbling into the fire below. We’d be dead for sure.

Gotta get through this somehow! One at a time, Lina!

I fixed my eyes on the white demon ahead of us and began to chant...

“Ragna Blast!” I incanted, throwing my spell at the blue one on my four. Glaring down the one in front was just a feint.

My timing was perfect. Five pillars of darkness appeared out of the air around the blue demon and wrapped its body in tendrils of black plasma. It reeled back, then dissolved into darkness and disappeared. One sucker down!

The white demon and the transparent demon then sprang into action, both of them conjuring up multiple javelins of light—which they hurled right at me! Zing! The lights easily penetrated the wind barrier! I quickly moved to avoid them...

“Wagh?!”

But I slipped and fell! Fortunately, that sent the javelins sailing safely over my head.

Ugh... Lemme tell ya, it’s hard to get your footing inside a giant bubble. Dodging was gonna be tricky.

Regardless, I started my next chant. As I picked myself up... a blue figure appeared in front of me! Was it the demon from before?! It must have pretended to be defeated, disappearing only to reappear inside the barrier and catch me by surprise! It held up its right palm, which began to glow with magical light...

Slash! The next I knew, the blue demon was bisected vertically!

“Ngyaaah!” With a genuine death rattle, it then shattered into thin air for good.

Obviously, my savior was none other than Gourry! He’d drawn the Sword of Light at some point, and now stood with it at the ready.

“Two to go! Let’s make it happen, Lina!”

I nodded and continued my chant. I was really aiming for the white one in front of me this time.

“Dragon Slave!” I shouted.

A pale red light coalesced in front of the demon and... Bwoosh! A powerful explosion rocked our wind barrier.

But this wasn’t over! I was sure I’d seen the demon vanish a split second before the red light focused into a single point. It had probably escaped to the astral plane in the nick of time.

Meanwhile, the transparent demon had taken to trying to get underneath our barrier. I was guessing its plan was to release one of those energy javelins from below.

“Not a chance!” Gourry shouted.

He then thrust the Sword of Light through the bottom of the barrier, firing a series of beams at the transparent demon. It dodged the beams easily enough, but Gourry had successfully driven it out from under us.

In the meantime, I was working on my next chant for when the white demon reappeared. The second I was ready, it did so—inside the barrier, right behind Amelia!

Not good! It’s after her instead of me! It was trying to destroy our barrier!

Gourry sensed its presence and whipped around. Perhaps realizing he wouldn’t make it in time if he ran, he leveled his sword at the demon—but nothing more. Amelia was right behind his target. If he fired the Sword of Light now, he’d hit her too. Obviously, I was in the same predicament with my spell.

Amelia looked back at the demon. It had just conjured a javelin of light right in front of her eyes, when...

Vwomm! An indescribable noise sounded out, and the white demon’s head exploded. The magical javelin disappeared right along with it.

I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened. I looked outside the barrier to see the transparent demon floating there, just as confused as I was.

Now!

“Dragon Slave!” I shouted, swallowing the last of our attackers in a burst of crimson.

Rmmmmm... hrr... At last, the barrier-shaking roar died down.

“Whew...” I exhaled in relief. “Looks like we made it...”

“But Lina, who took out that white one?” Gourry asked.

“Probably Xellos,” I responded. “I’ll bet he had a free moment in his battle with Raltark and Rashart, and managed to lend us a hand from the astral plane...”

A valuable ally to have indeed. If he was guarding me without any ulterior motive, I’d be genuinely grateful...

At any rate, our wind barrier made it safely across the roiling inferno as we sailed toward Dragons’ Peak.

“Still not here, huh?” Amelia whispered in utter boredom.

“Still not here,” I whispered back softly.

The sky was clear. The morning sun was warm. Before us stretched the large forest, still freshly scorched from the conflagration. Behind us stood a run-down hut-sized charcoal kiln and Dragons’ Peak.

Yep, the four of us had made it to the base of the mountain.

Three days had passed since our battle in the forest. A big rain had hit that night and put out the fire, but it had also driven us under the cover of a tree for shelter. We’d set out the following morning and made it here the afternoon of the next day.

Xellos, however, still hadn’t shown up. Sick of waiting, we’d come outside to watch for him and mutter about how he was nowhere to be seen. I knew it was unlikely that he’d come walking up either way, and that complaining wasn’t going to make him appear any faster... but there wasn’t much else to do in a sea of nothing but grass and trees. We were bored.

If we’d wanted, we could’ve killed time by taking a walk, or going fishing or hunting. But we didn’t know where the enemy might be lurking, and it didn’t seem wise to just wander around.

“He’s still not here yet?” Gourry asked, popping out of the charcoal kiln.

“Nope,” I responded, continuing to stare blankly into the forest with Amelia.

He walked up beside me and joined our stare-a-thon, asking, “You think those guys took him out?”

“Not impossible. Either option ain’t great for us... Ugh. Guess it’s time we start discussing our next move...” I whispered, then let out a lonely sigh.

“Say, Lina, why don’t we head up Dragons’ Peak without him?”

“And do what?”

“Ask them to let us see it, maybe?”

“Yeah, right. The dragons are protecting the Claire Bible. I dare you to waltz up there and say, ‘Gimme!’ Spoiler: they’re not just gonna go, ‘Yeah, sure thing!’”

“But if we explain the situation...”

Hahhh... I let out another deep sigh.

“Look, Gourry... You really think the dragons will accept a naively straightforward explanation like, ‘A demon named Xellos told us to come check out the Claire Bible because he’s got some weird scheme going on, so here we are’?”

“Well... most folks appreciate honesty.”

“Oh, put a sock in it...”

If we kept waiting and Xellos never showed, we could eventually play dumb and wander off. But even then, I doubted the Chaos Dragon faction would just shrug off the whole let’s-kill-Lina business.

“Let’s wait one more day and—” Amelia started to whisper, when just then...

Whoosh! There was a gust of wind behind us, and a shadow blocked out the sun for a moment. It was followed by the sound of beating wings.

I looked up to see a giant glint of gold—a golden dragon?! It was descending slowly on our location. Hearing the commotion, Zelgadis also emerged from the kiln.

It was on the small side as dragons went, but still plenty powerful enough to honor the golden dragons’ “dragon lord” epithet. It had a body that would take one hell of a sword to even scratch, an intelligent mind that knew the languages of many creatures along with many powerful spells, and laser breath that could cleave a massive red dragon in two in one go...

The dragon craned its neck around, slowly sizing the four of us up.

“What brings you here?” I whispered, and the magnificent creature focused its gaze on me.

“That’s what I’d like to know, humans,” it said in our own tongue. Its diction wasn’t the best, but to be fair, the thing was working with a totally different physiology.

“Wow!” exclaimed Gourry, the only one shocked by this. “Did you hear that?! The dragon talked!”

“Sure did,” I responded coldly to the gawking lug.

“Oh? Is it unusual for a dragon to talk?” the dragon said, seeming more partial to Gourry’s reaction than anyone else’s.

Gourry scratched his head and replied, “Well, I’ve never seen a dragon talk before... How’d you learn to speak human?”

“Ha! We dragons live a long time. We learn the languages of other creatures as a way to entertain ourselves over the course of decades.”

Gourry meditated for a while on the golden dragon’s words, then said, “So you just do it to kill time?”

“Well... we prefer my wording. Now then, humans, what are you doing here? We’ve seen you loitering these last few days. The charcoal makers use this place from time to time, but you don’t look like them. If you have no business here on the mountain of dragons, we’d prefer it if you left.”

At that, our group shared a glance. Let’s see... how do we explain this one?

“Um... we’re waiting for someone,” I said before anyone else—specifically Gourry—could speak up. “We got separated from a companion of ours... so we were hoping he’d show up here eventually.”

“You chose this as your meeting place?”

“Er, well... not here specifically. We never really established a meeting place. We just figured he’d come around eventually if we hung out in this area, so...”

“Is this the truth?”

“It is indeed,” called a familiar voice from behind the golden dragon.

“Xellos!” I cried out instinctively as the black-robed priest stepped leisurely into sight.

“So sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“You’re okay! What happened to the other two?!”

“We were unable to settle the matter. It dragged on for some time, and in the end, they escaped me... I considered giving chase, but I couldn’t risk falling into a trap, now could I? Hahaha.”

Wait... you’ve been fighting all this time?! Until just now?!

“Now, I have a favor to ask you,” Xellos said, turning to the golden dragon. “We have a small matter to discuss with your leader...”

“What is it?”

“Ah, let me see... I’d like to reserve that information for the seniormost dragon possible. Is Milgazia well?”

“The elder? You know the elder?!”

“Oh... we’re old acquaintances, you could say. If you tell him that Xellos is here, I’m sure he’ll understand.”

“Hmm... just who are you?” the golden dragon asked, perhaps realizing that Xellos wasn’t human.

“That’s,” Xellos said, pressing a finger to his lips, “a secret.”

Ah, his secret attack!

The golden dragon looked puzzled for a moment before finally relenting, “Very well. I’ll relay your request to the elder. Wait here.” The dragon then spread its wings again and took off toward the summit.

“You know a big-shot dragon?” Gourry asked.

Xellos replied with a bright smile, “Well, we met once long ago. He’s very steadfast.”

“Wow. You’ve really got some friends in high places, huh?”

“Despite how I may look, I’ve lived a very long time.”

“Say, just how old are you?”

“Hahaha. Now, now, Master Gourry, one mustn’t ask a lady her age.”

Since when are you a lady?!

The absurd conversation continued for a while, Xellos deflecting our questions at every turn, when all of a sudden...

Whoosh! Whoosh! The air around us was abuzz. I looked up and froze in place at the sight.

The sky above us was blotted gold and black. Hundreds, thousands of golden and black dragons flew overhead, thrashing about.

Before long, one of them descended toward us. He was on the large side—significantly longer than the one we’d spoken to before, and at least double its sheer volume. He must have been a thousand years old, or perhaps many thousands...

And at last, he landed—not in front of us, but in front of Xellos. His eyes burned with cagey disdain. He seemed to know exactly what Xellos was.

“It has been quite a while, hasn’t it, Master Milgazia?” the demon called out cheerfully.

“Yes, indeed,” the golden dragon responded contemptuously. “But certainly not long enough for my liking... Since the Incarnation War, hasn’t it, Priest Xellos?”