Ghost town

The day after the battle, your column comes across the first village inside the demon lord’s territory. Apart from a few demons who fled at your arrival, the place was empty. Walking around in the abandoned village is haunting, especially when you realize that places like this are where the demon lord’s reserve army came from.

You glance at Kali and Samara, who are following you on your walk, and watching you with concern. You sigh. “You know what this reminds me of? Humanitas. It seems like everywhere I push, people are slaughtered to stop me. I wonder if there’s anything I could have done to stop this.”

Samara shakes her head. “It’s not like this was a idyllic village, or a peaceful town, Josh. Those don’t exist in the demon lord’s realm.”

Kali nods. “Evil people will sacrifice innocents without blinking. That’s why you need to do what you’re doing.”

“I know, I know. I have to wonder though, what is his goal? To rule over corpses?”

Samara sighs. “I don’t know for sure. I don’t think anyone knows. And he’s not talking about it. For the most part, he just seems to want suffering.”

You grimace. “Maybe I’ll ask him. Right before I destroy him.”

Kali smiles. “That’s the right answer. He has much to answer for, and we’re the ones to do it.”

You nod. “And the sooner the better. Let’s get moving, I don’t want to stay here. It feels wrong.”

Samara looks around. “I agree. It reminds me of things I did before you gave me a chance to be better. I don’t want to think about that now.”

As the three of you walk back towards the army, you pause. You can’t shake the feeling that you’re being watched, but when you look around, you don’t see anything out of the ordinary. Kali glances at you. “Something wrong?”

You shrug. “Just feels like someone is watching us.”

Samara laughs. “I’m sure they are! The question is, which someone? The demon lord, the triumvirate, this mysterious source of that purple glow we saw?”

Kali nods. “Probably all of them. They all would have an interest.”

You look around again. “And I’m never going to see them just looking around. I wish Yura was here, she could spot them. But it doesn’t matter, we haven’t exactly hidden what we’re doing.”

Samara smiles. “No use worrying about it now. Tell you what, tonight I can help take your mind off it, once we camp.”

Kali grins. “I’d be happy to help her out!”

You laugh. “You two are bad influences on each other! Normally I’d take you up on that, but I already promised Clarissa we’d spend some time together.”

The Lilim sisters look at each other. Kali giggles. “That’s ok, I’m sure we can occupy ourselves.”

Samara laughs. “Maybe we can invite Sadie!”

Now it’s your turn to laugh. “Try not to keep the whole camp awake.”

The pair discuss plans as you make your way back towards your army. You glance around one more time as you leave. You could swear you caught a flicker of blue in the shadows, and you look closer.