The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 444: The Hanged Man

Chapter 444: The Hanged Man

Another day.

Rain thought this as he slipped out of bed, leaving Sedra groaning as the bed shifted and she wrapped herself deeper into the blanket they’d shared. Ms. Paji had proven quite affectionate, but her endurance hadn’t quite matched her passion after long nights of overtime work. But at least they were at the end of that. Which meant Rain would probably have to end their fling soon.

Better not to make attachments.

He’d worked hard, mostly to have something to do while lying low and training Myrti. As he’d discovered, there was only so much he could learn at night. But he did learn the dungeon had been on a small isle just off the coast, and a fortess had been built around it. Both had been swallowed by the base of the tower.

Much to his chagrin, he hadn’t managed to get his identity as "Kir Gale" verified, but he was able to talk Nahbi into following him around to let him visit a market. Gods knew Myrti needed new clothes and more food if she was going to gain anything from Rain’s training routines.

Today was that day, and after dressing himself in boots, pants, and a cloak, Rain stepped out of his room to find Myrti waiting for him with a baleful stare.

"Did you not sleep?" Rain asked.

"Hard to sleep when you two are so damn loud," Myrti answered irritably, rubbing her eyes.

"Hasn’t bothered you before," Rain noted. "Guess that means you’re no longer properly exhausted by training. I’ll have to raise the difficulty." He spoke matter-of-factly, but still, Myrti groaned to hear it.

*

The market was not as crowded as Rain expected, and between him and Nahbi, they had an intimidating presence that people parted readily from. Rain had earned enough to buy some extra food for Myrti and a change of clothes for the girl. For a couple of coppers, he even managed to pick up a used shirt that was rather sail-like in its proportions. It hung off his frame quite a bit, but it would do.

"I’d like to visit a blacksmith," Rain said to Nahbi after leaving the market, their purchases in Rain’s storage bag.

"Thought you already had a weapon," the guardsman said, his voice a little higher than most men Rain knew. A light tenor that wasn’t unattractive.

"It’s for my apprentice," he clarified.

Nahbi sniffed, a disapproving look on his face. "Forges are down by the docks. Step too close to a ship and-"

"If I wanted to leave, I would have," Rain let his voice grow colder.

"Alright, fine. Don’t get your dick in a twist."

*

The first blacksmith they found only worked on ship and house parts. The second was more of a farrier who did knives on the side. But at the third smithy, the one nearest the city’s east dock and therefore the dungeon, Rain found weapons arrayed in shelves and stands.

"An adventurer. Been seeing less of your kind every day since the dungeon broke," the woman who ran the shop said.

"Find a weapon you like. One that feels right to work with, not one that looks pretty." Rain said to Myrti, leaving the girl to begin her own search before he turned to address the female rock elf with hair shimmering through the colors of malachite. "Call me Gale."

"I’m Kila. My husband’s Adit. He handles the forge, I handle everything else."

"I don’t suppose you have any news about the dungeon?" Rain tried.

"Seems to have had a bit of a growth spurt lately. No telling why, but it’s starting to turn all pillar-shaped. Hasn’t gotten any taller. At least, that’s what the guards who come back from the island are saying."

As Rain made small talk, Myrti took her time browsing, picking up weapons, and putting them back. She was in the middle of admiring a pair of heavy gauntlets with stabbing points at the knuckles when a man burst his way into the shop.

"Kila!" the black-haired human crowed, "Have I got some weapons for you!"

"If this is another batch of shitty Syndicate steel, I’ll throw you off the docks myself, Jhaydun," Kila scowled.

"No, no. Nothing like that!" he pulled something out of a dimensional storage satchel. A long pair of tubes that someone had bonded to what looked like a crossbow stock.

Rain’s eyes widened as he recognized the gun for what it was.

"Fresh from Amrita. I snagged a few out of a crate bound for Sweetling."

"Forge marks are from Norneau. Enumasam’s work... What is it?" Kila asked.

Rain watched silently as Jhaydun boasted on about the weapon. He called it a "shotgun," and showed off a few "shells" of ammunition.

"This one’ll put a hole through a man. This one will fill the space in front of it with flying shrapnel. And this one, oho," he made a bursting motion with his hand and a sound only children would associate with a fireball. "I’m thinking five orichalc for the lot."

"I’ll admit you have me interested. If they demonstrate right, we can talk price."

Rain stepped in as Jhaydun’s greedy eyes glittered. "Who did you ’snag’ this from?" he asked, voice demanding.

The man scowled. "Don’t know who the fuck you are, but I don’t like your tone." He drew a knife, and Rain grabbed him by that arm and squeezed hard, taking a punch to the face without even flinching until the man finally cried out, "The Syndicate! I stole them off the Syndicate!"

As Rain released him, Kila let out a grimacing hiss. "You lying sack of shit! You said it wasn’t Syndicate steel!"

As Jhaydun stood, he sputtered, "I didn’t lie! It’s not shitty, and it’s not made of steel! It’s something better, harder, called kiralloy."

Nahbi gave Rain a quirksome look. "Must be a coincidence," the half-angel posing as "Kir Gale" muttered to the guard.

"I don’t care if it’s made of skymetal and spits gold coins from nothing. Only thing worse than shitty weapons is weapons that bring the goddamn Syndicate down on my house and business! Did you even think about that before you stole from them?"

"Come on, Kila," Jhaydun pleaded. "I need the coin. Just hold onto it for a little while until they start showing up."

"Get out of my shop!" Kila pointed.

Jhaydun cast a murderous gaze at Rainier before making his exit. He had the look of a man who would make trouble for Rain if he could.

"Saved me a heap of trouble there, Gale," Kila nodded her respect. "Can’t give you anything magic, but you’re welcome to some unenchanted steel if you want it."

Rain nodded. "I’m here for the girl, but if you’re willing, I’d like to use your forge for a little."

"That’ll be between you and my husband," Kila started to say when Myrti returned bearing a sickle attached to a long chain.

"I want this one!" she declared, showing off the sickle, its handle a simple one of wood and bronze. The chain was unremarkable iron, but it had a weight on the end that told Rainier of its purpose.

"A kusarigama," Kila said. "That’s a solid weapon... but are you sure you’re old enough to be needing it?" She looked at Rainier with concern.

"She’s my apprentice," he said flatly. "Do you have a heavier one for training?"

"Nah, husband only made one for an Okolander who never showed up to claim it. But I can see if he could make more weights for the chain. Maybe a weighted sheath."

"Just that then, and the use of your forge for a day."

After that, Rain was led to the forge, which was in another attached building, where he met Adit, a plain-looking elf who wielded his mana masterfully as he worked. Rain could tell just by looking around that the man was passionate about his craft. After hearing the story of what had happened from Kila, he shook Rain’s hand and thanked him, but he refused to let Rain use the forge.

"Sorry, friend; unless you’ve got a maker’s proof, I’m afraid I can’t leave Forgey with an amateur." He jerked a thumb over at a dodecahedron made of iron, its corners knobed with varying round forms and its surfaces showing off different cutout shapes.

"I understand," Rain said, deciding he wouldn’t push it.

"But I tell you what. You tell me what you want to make, and I’ll see what I can do for you."

"I need a two-handed sword." He described the dimensions he wanted.

"Hmm, I can do that. But that’s still a lot of steel you’re asking for. I can do it for three."

"Silver?"

"Gold. And I’ll put in eight circles for enchantments."

"Two," Rain counteroffered.

At the end of the barter dance, they settled for two gold and four silver. Rain’s reward for his help earlier became Adit agreeing to set aside his other work to make what Rain and Myrti needed. Myrti was disappointed they had to leave the kusarigama with Adit.

After their business, Rain let Nahbi lead the way out. As they were passing an alley, he almost didn’t see their attacker as the man from before raised the shotgun to his shoulder and fired.

With a BANG, the first slug took Nahbi in the shoulder, skipping off the bone and into the side of his neck. The second slug hit Rain dead-center as he turned, putting his body between the attacker and Myrti.

The pain flashed before Rain’s godflesh dulled it. The strike knocked the wind out of him, putting him down on one knee.

Jhaydun stepped out of the shadows, hate in his eyes and five shotguns floating behind him. He raised the sixth from his hand and let it float as he took another.

"You cost me a lot of coin, you vagrant piece of shit!"

"Myrti, run," Rainier rasped at the girl.

"B-but-"

"RUN!" Rain shouted. A moment later he activated the mask of his godflesh, saving his face as his enemy sent another slug right for Rainier’s head.

Rain’s head snapped back. His godflesh body was the only reason he didn’t die right then, but as he lifted his head, he saw the enraged human aiming for Myrti, firing, missing, and cycling to his third weapon in less than five seconds.

His first shot ricocheted off the pavement and left a crater in the plaster of a wall. He scowled, taking his time as he aimed for Myrti. "Delk filth..."

"NO!" Rain shouted, startling the man as he charged, grabbing Jhaydun by the neck and choke-slamming him into the building.

He held on as the human choked, tilting the shotgun down in open hand and shooting Rain in the thigh.

He held on as the man used his magic to put two new shotguns in his hands, firing them one at a time into Rain’s chest, his leg, and even an arm. One of the rounds burned as it stayed in Rain’s flesh until the godflesh pushed out the heated shot to smoke on the ground.

The only thing he accomplished was making Rain release one hand as the arm dropped, already regenerating.

Rain hanged him with one hand until, with a strangled crunch, the human’s throat gave out as his enhancement magic left with his breath.

When Rain ripped his arm away, he took half the dead man’s neck with it, his fingers clawed into Jhaydun’s esophagus as Rain’s heart pounded in his ears.

And then, hand covered in blood and the embers of rage in his purple eyes, Rain turned to find Myrti being held back by a female guard. Around him, three other guards stood with looks of shock on their faces. One held their hands at the ready to cast spells.

But they hesitated, and Rain realized it was because his shirt had been destroyed, exposing his godflesh for all to see.

Rain raised his arms and said, "I surrender."

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