The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 427: Scouting Mission

Chapter 427: Scouting Mission

When Rainier wasn’t being ordered about, he trained.

Something about the way his godflesh had been warped during his escape from Heaven made him stronger than he had been, and even now a couple of weeks after the event, he found himself surprised by it.

Today’s case in point was proved when his greatsword snapped in two.

He’d been fighting with a brutishly huge demon when it happened, and as a result, he wound up accidentally impaling the demon he was sparring with in the shoulder.

"Gragh!" the demon roared as Rainier dropped his sword to help.

"Shit!" Rainier pulsed his wings trying to get to the giant demon’s shoulder, only to find himself punched so hard he collided with the wall, evincing laughter from the demons who had gathered to watch.

Before Rainier could rise, the demon pointed his own glaive at Rainier’s chest. "Surrender?"

"I yield," Rainier sighed.

"Good. Make sure a fight is over before you go helping your enemies," the demon chuckled. His name was Svarzgard and from everything Rain could tell he liked to beat his opponents into submission before telling them what they did wrong.

"I’ll keep that in mind," Rain replied as Svarzgard called for a healer and plucked the sword from his shoulder with a gush of crimson blood. The healer turned out to be an elven woman, who wore a living branch in her crimson hairbun that indicated she was of a druidic persuasion.

Though demons did heal faster than myriadfolk, healers were especially rare amongst their kind.

None of the other demons in the room approached Rainier as he discarded the broken sword into a pile of mangled weapons.

He missed Torrent, the sword that had been made for him by one of the few angels he considered a decent person.

While he was decent at making magical swords, it just wasn’t the same, especially since their durability fluctuated with his concentration. The best balance he’d found before the change in his godflesh had been to use only four to six of his Manifest Arms.

Now, he struggled to make three, but at least they all resembled Torrent in appearance, weight, and length, even if they were far more fragile than a true blade. Manifest Arms, Rainier’s signature working of magic, wasn’t so much a spell as an evolving practice. One that had gotten away from him after losing everything he’d had twice.

From across the room, a female voice rang out.

"Fallen, come here." It was Janice, a half-demon succubus and one of Maledict’s staff.

Some of the demons snickered as he approached her, wondering if he was in trouble. He ignored them, going to stand silently in front of Janice.

"Maledict has orders for you."

"He normally delivers them himself," Rainier noted.

"True. But this is untimely and he’s indisposed. What do you know about dungeons?"

Rainier listed off the basics. That dungeons were mysterious places that contained pieces of other worlds, by anyone’s guess. Some rooms were just biomes. Some contained monsters. Others could have completely different rules of how they worked compared to reality, though those were rare.

"Have you ever heard of a dungeon crystallizing or inverting itself?" Janice continued once he finished.

"No," Rainier replied, wondering what she meant by crystallizing. "Occasionally packs of monsters might come out of dungeons, but I don’t think that’s what you mean by inverting."

"Come with me," Janice said. She didn’t wait for his reply as she started walking along the curved hallway of the High Palace, which was built into the upper rim of the world tree trunk facing north and south width-wise. She led him south, towards the Greater Dorred Lake, before pointing at the horizon. "What do you see?"

When Rainier looked, he saw a glistening blue needle reaching for the sky. "It looks like a tower made of crystal," was all he could guess. "What does that have to do with dungeons?"

"It was the site of Dorred’s local dungeon. Last night, that thing broke through the fort built around the dungeon and continued growing. We have reports from other locations that a similar thing is happening to dungeons across the world. Maledict wants you to check on the Beastport dungeon and confirm his suspicions."

"He’d trust me to go to a port city? What’s to stop me from just hopping on a ship and sailing away?" Rainier asked.

"Your Oath, of course. Maledict is one of the few mages capable of tracing Oaths between holders. Contracts too. Cross him at your own risk." Janice produced a quill pen with a ruby on top. A scrypen. "Take this. You will receive further orders from Maledict when he has time, and you are expected to report once every two days, at a minimum."

Rainier took the scrypen with a frown. "Did he not see fit to provide paper as well?"

"I believe some of the new demons were given paper to confess everything of use they might know. Perhaps they have extra. Take some."

Rainier’s frown deepened. "I’m not in the habit of being cruel to people."

"They were given a gift that Iworked for. The sooner they learn they won’t be coddled, the sooner I won’t have to deal with them." The contempt in her voice could have melted stone. As the one responsible for maintaining Maledict’s household, wherever that happened to be, Rainier knew she had a lot on her plate. "Unfortunately for you, I seem to not know where the quartermaster has gone. So you can either accept that ready source or find your own. The same goes for whatever else you might need." She started to walk away. "Oh, and be out of here by noon."

Shit.

That didn’t give Rain a lot of time. He kept a couple of days worth of provisions in the dimensional bag he’d been given - since his godflesh proved immune to tattooing and he wasn’t about to get a face tattoo on top of the Oath mark that had settled over his eye.

With a sigh, he grew out a mask of godflesh, covering his face as he took a short flight to the hall where they were keeping the new demons. Living near the jungle, bugs were a constant concern, and even the highest sections of the trunk weren’t completely immune to the presence of pests, as he’d learned during his first few days of flying.

The moment he landed, he cleaned himself with a bit of magic before stepping into the hall-shaped building. The demons guarding the doors let him pass without a word, knowing he worked directly for Maledict.

Inside, he found the youngest children running from door to door, seemingly recovered from the shock of their transformation. As he passed along the doorless rooms, he saw mothers sitting on cushions, talking to each other in low voices as he looked into each room. Most of the menfolk were sulking in corners, and they cast him baleful stares until he moved on.

The older children either stayed near their parents or sat quietly, watching the youngest amongst them play.

By the look of it, none of them had been given tasks, but Rain knew that would change.

"You came back," a familiar voice ambushed Rain as he passed yet another door.

"Leave me alone, Myrti," Rain said, not even bothering to check the room she was in.

"You remembered my name!" the girl giggled.

Rain sighed, sensing the girl wasn’t going to leave him alone. "Can you get me some paper, Myrti? Preferably blank."

"Jagorn gave us some paper, but then she took it all back."

Her office was on the other end of the hall, and it was the only room with a door. Rain accelerated his pace to reach it before knocking.

"She’s not there," Myrti said as soon as she caught up.

Rainier tried the doorknob, only to find it locked. Without hesitation, he put his shoulder into the door and forced it open, breaking the lock as he entered the room where he began searching Jagorn’s workspace. It wasn’t hard to locate a few blank sheets and stuff them into his bag.

"What are you doing, Fallen?" a gruff voice asked, causing Rain to turn and notice the demon guard who’d entered the hall.

"I’m going on a scouting mission and I needed supplies. Take it up with Janice, I’m in a hurry."

"Now someone’s gotta guard this door," the guard protested.

"Good thing you’re here then," Rain said, not backing down as he muscled his way out of the room, deciding to leave the way he came in.

"Jagorn will hear about this!" the guard threatened Rainier’s back.

Rain did not respond. He’d had almost zero interaction with the demoness and didn’t intend to if he could help it. He disliked the way the sorrow eater had leered at him, licking her lips.

"Can I go with you?" Myrti asked, staying ahead of Rain as she half-skipped backward.

He meant to say ’No’, but instead Rain found himself asking, "Why?"

"It’s boring here. None of the other kids like me because my dad was a commoner."

"I’m not here to entertain you," Rain scowled behind his mask. Why won’t she leave me alone?

"I can help you scout! My mom was a soldier. She taught me some things. I’m really good at finding animals!"

By the end of her sentence, Rain was out the door. The guards jolted a bit as Myrti followed him, but decided not to move after sharing a look with each other. Rain had quickly discovered there were two reactions to his sudden appearance in demon society: Those who hated him, and those who feared him. The exceptions so far were Svarzgard who respected strength, and Maledict, who treated him more like a curiosity.

And now apparently Myrti, who just wouldn’t leave him alone. Rain didn’t want to saddle himself with the burden of caring about her fate, not when he couldn’t escape his own... She would be more likely to find a better life without him in it.

The girl ran into his back as he suddenly stopped.

Maybe she could escape...

A plan started to form in Rain’s mind, and he turned to look at Myrti. "If you come with me, it could be dangerous."

"I’m not afraid," Myrti asserted.

"Very well," Rain said, estimating the girl’s weight as he deployed his black and gold wings. "Climb on and hold tight, but not to my wings. If you fall, I probably won’t be able to catch you." He turned to face the center of the city and crouched.

Though she made an uncertain sound, Myrti climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you... um..."

"Just call me Rain," Rain turned his head. "Or Fallen, if you want to be like everyone else."

"I like Rain better," Myrti replied.

Rain did not reply. He stepped to the edge of the balcony platform and fell into a glide.

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