Devil's Business

Prolific Date of Dusk

 Juno’s concern to the unfortunate lady of red is mounting by the time he discerned the relationship with his current client of the day. A husband of one prideful woman of royal ancestry has its own relativity. Her man’s status must be higher or in par to the woman as a natural dot over the line. However, as much as he can notice, the man himself has no symbols that refers to the highlanders. There is no horns, not even half of it or full 30 centimeters of the tusk.

However, He has to diminish the urge to ask this to the man due to the demon scientist’s own apprehension. He settled himself down a bit, carefully assess the investigation towards the beast and its furs to gain acknowledgement of what had happened. Their teeth are mostly covered with the seemingly guardsman’s blood and seemingly free from any hints of her presence. Their protruding spines are not giving any better clue of the woman as much. Before they ventured off the range of the crime scene, the demon scientist found the guardsman remains are still fresh to boot. The entire bracelets of the royal lady are also scattered within the circle of the beast’s attack, therefore made yet another mysteries towards the entire scrutiny.

After finishing their short course with the two kudelumas and the poor demon guy, they explored the vacate land of the dawn with utmost caution to the ground. She could be burrowed inside the mound of sand, or getting ripped to shreds as the beasts chewed her dead body like lollipop-

”No, no, stop it. I don’t want to contemplate on that one really much.” Mumbled Juno as he squashed away his own bad thoughts with two slap to his cheeks. The demon scientist poised a concern towards Juno’s deranged personality, but rather dead silent to give Juno a space for his own problems.

“Before we think of her presence inside the city, I guess we have to dive inside the red forest of Mooma first. She could get carried away by the beast for dinner.” The demon scientist told Juno of his own perception to the estranged situation. Juno has responded to the demon’s scientist coins of intuition with a slight nod,”Alright, Ruso, lead me to the forest. I’ll protect you from the rear.”

There has been no credible prior knowledge about the very existence of the red forest of Hell in every region of the major city. It is already there by midnight, as the legend has taught every demon in childhood, all summoned by the highest priest of the realm with no definite reason to divulge. As the lore implied, the priest had to do this because of the massive drought occurred in the early life of hell and its creation by the heaven’s mightiest Gods, but no other sources prove the tale as true. A massive downpour had touched the land of limitless sand ever since and annually hits the soil over Mon, the fifth month of the year, therefore considering that the fifth-ranked high demon of the world as its ancestor.

The redwood trees of red forest are the very much residents of the woodland. Bottom of the two visitors’entire feet are coated with red sands of hell without a spark of any other sort of vegetation living beneath its root. In their walk deeper to the heart of the forest, a similar sort of cavern with the one resides in Beneno is sitting upon the center and boasting an eerie darkness below its stomach.

By the sense of his caution that was heightened from his escalated stats, Juno’s ears are tingling when he heard of Kudeluma’s screeching voice inside the cavern,”I can snap a woman’s tone inside, we must hurry!” Shouted Juno towards Ruso in front. The demon scientist appears to have the same intuition against the fleeting feeling derived from the cavern, since he already snatched momentum to run in haste as soon as Juno’s command came to rise,”Please Jonah, you have to be alive for me!” He bloated amidst his own running tempo.

As they getting close to the cavern’s mouth, they saw a flame down within that waving towards their position, a sight to sore eyes for the demon scientist and his insurance of hope. To illuminate the space inside the cavern, Juno throws one of his portable magic lamp within. The shimmering light were emanating inside the humongous mouth, glistening any sort of materials below as it was destined to be.

(Prak!)

When the lamp hits the rocky terrain of the cavern and broke down, it radiates even brighter glow to the whole dark area that it can cover. There’s none other than three Kudelumas that has caught by the light’s illumination and a woman with her base elemental magic in her hands, a glowing flame that .

“Grrr....”

“Shoo! Shoo! Get away from me!” She waved a nimble twig while trying to oust them away from herself. The demon scientist could finally immerse to her identity once she announced it by the voice of her fear and immediately shrieking in happiness against the bad odds that haunted him for awhile.

“Jonah! You’re survived!” The royal demon shouted at her, bashing to her knee in haste towards the danger that she has to oppose  Against the immediate shout from the callous individuals that come from outside, the three Kudelumas don’t get appealed themselves to the other treat. They tend to lay their interest more over the royal female demon and craving her body than the rest of their visitors abound. This is surely the cue for Juno to crash their attention, therefore made him jumps and slashing one of them down to its death.

(Shriek!)

One of the threats has been cut down by the s***h of Juno’s twin swords. He separates its head in criss-cross fashion, flashing a line between its neck in advance. The other two of the pack are eventually attentive to their surroundings and rushing to their friend’s killer with claws against Juno’s head.

(Clang!)

Then again, they have to taste failure towards their attempted assault, since Juno’s protection bubble abruptly intervened the charge. Their claws are not sturdy enough to upscale against the might of Juno’s defensive mechanics or punctured it to scrape a gap for themselves to roll inside. Because of their business with the transparent shield, they neglected the human hero that live within and his capabilities to measure with their own. As a result, Juno could slice them to the throat and plunging his two swords to their guts, killing them instantly in a blitz.

“They are too easy to deal with. The ghoul are much thicker by means of survival right here.” Juno gloats after the feat, which impressed the two demons beside him that can not believed of what just happened. Otherwise, the royal woman seemed in shock and can not raise her thoughts to the sudden event. She just laid down to her knees and crying against her futility seconds ago. Her man, the demon scientist, is also setting himself adjacent to the unfortunate lady and consolating her grief.

In the minutes after her own grieving session, she laid her eyes towards the human hero and giving him a sincere smile,”I should not forgive myself from this, but I can only say thank you for the help.” Said the royal woman to Juno. He accepts her appreciative ammendments by handing his hands for her to stand up,”It’s not much a hassle to me, my lady. This is a duty of a hero, too, so that would be counted on my tabs as always.”

---

The three travelers are set themselves out from the vicinity of red forest by early dusk. Bleeping torches of Mooma City could be seen from meters away and acted as their beacon to the city. One and only sources of light by their own was the portable flame from Ruso’s personal baggage, from which he carried at all time of their hunt. It sticks afloat against its box, hence created stylish and unimaginable art. Juno was bewildered by the looks of the portable flame and kept himself entertained by the casual flow of fire that emerges from the vacate box below it.

As Juno raised his hands by the curiosity of his handy equipments, he muttered,”You’ll have to buy this later on since I wished to deploy it in the market, but I can let you have several of these for the bonus to your rewards.”

“Really? I want to purchase it by myself, but-“

“Please, human. Have it as my token of gratitude. My wife is safe because of you.” Ruso insisted to the human hero and handed some of the portable flame to him immediately,”You can use the fire for 24 hours straight, and it could be wrapped up for future use. All you have to do is closing the lid, and it would be preserved until it’s open.”

To give Juno the tutorial needed for the portable flame, Ruso lifted the lid up before closing it to the vacant hole inside the box in an instant. For once, fires are swirling and rejecting the idea of dying as it keeps the static figure. It only dispersed right after Ruso swished it directly with his bare hands.”Oops, sorry. Can’t overwrite that one issue from you, I suppose.” He rattled to the box, neglecting the staring witnesses beside him as they shrugged to the failure that happened.  

On the other way around, the royal lady appeared much more humble and radiating warmth towards the lone human warrior of the realm. However, she still somehow shriveled over something that Juno have had upon his waist. Her eyes shrunk and trying to perceive the scabbard of the twin steel edge. Recognizing her interest, Juno laid down his sword and shoving it to the royal demon, much against her concern of his reaction.

“Umm, I am not literally wish to have this, Juno. I just-“

Juno’s left hand, as it filled with the two swords that he retrieved from Rumbia’s shopkeeper, are quickly dropping the two scabbard upon her palms,”Don’t be so shy, Jonah. I don’t want you to inspect it thoroughly from my blindspot areas and tingling my sense of danger at all times.” He muttered to the lady of red.

“I can’t say anything but thank you, master swordsman.” She nodded to his gratitude before laying her interest over the scabbard’s engraved pattern.

Much to their constant stride back to Mooma City, stillness are governing their middle lane. Every single person of the group are busy with themselves and their own stuff. Juno and Ruso are muddled with the portable flame system, and Jonah with her own interest to the sword cover’s authentic design.

“Ah, I get it, I get it! You’re totally special, aren’t you?” Exclaimed Jonah incessantly to the owner of the two swords. Juno himself seemed bewildered by the sudden events and looking at her in confusion to what she wants to tell,”Yeah? Please speak to me of what you found, Jonah.”

“This sword was built ages ago, and the holder was also human like you!”