Chapter 44: The Underground Tunnel (2/2)

Just as I stood there idly, Chipped Horn threw out another punch at me. However, just as he did so, his body suddenly jerked backwards slightly.

At the same time, I finally came back to my senses and desperately tried to shift my body to the side. The fist barely grazed my shoulder as it landed on empty air behind me.

“Master leave quickly…leave…”

So that jerk wasn’t accidental, it was because of Big 1’s fearless attempt at saving me. He desperately hugged Chipped Horn’s leg and tugged backwards, causing him to jerk back missing his target.

This opponent was just too strong…with just one punch, he managed to defeat my army’s commander. I must run, now!

I quickly crawled to my feet and dashed up the stairs, not daring to look back for even a second, my heart pounding with every step I took.

Having broken his right arm, Big 1 had to use his only remaining arm to hug Chipped Horn’s foot. Even so, he held on for dear life, refusing to let go. Seeing me leave his sight, Chipped Horn turned around and cruelly stomped on the hindrance of an arm. However, this didn’t stop Big 1 either, with his left arm now broken as well, he immediately bit down on Chipped Horn.

Ever since I’d given them weapons, my devils had never used their teeth to fight. In the heat of the moment, this basic fighting style finally came back to Big 1 as he suddenly remembered that his teeth were his strongest weapons.

“Let go!”

Chipped Horn furiously kicked back, his leg coincidentally landing squarely on Big 1’s skull. The heavy kick sent him flying backwards immediately with a sickening crunch, whether he was still alive or not remained a mystery.

“Ah…”

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As he flew backwards, Big 1 crashed into an oncoming guardsmen and ended up blocking the passageway, as the two of them laid on the floor in a tangled mess.

By now, I had already reached the entrance to the underground tunnel. No.3 and Big 4 who had heard the ruckus downstairs had already gathered near the entrance, worry etched into their faces. Upon seeing me exit the tunnel, they breathed a sigh of relief. However, this relief was cut short by my following words.

“One-eye and the others are in trouble, they might’ve even…quick, gather the shieldbearers and saber wielders. Hurry!”

“Understood.” No.5 was usually a slippery fellow, but even he felt the seriousness of this moment. Without any hesitation, he sprinted off to gather the other devils while No.3 and Big 4 stood by my side, ready.

I brought the two of them out of that small room, but did not manage to leave the chapel. Before the shieldbearers and saber wielders managed to get here, Chipped Horn had already caught up with us. Upon leaving the tunnel, the first thing he did was take a deep breath of air, an intoxicated look apparent on his face. He then turned towards me while flashing a disgusting smile.

“Go on, keep running, why aren’t you running?”

Since I had left the dim tunnel and finally regained my presence of mind, I got my first good look at his appearance. Chipped Horn’s appearance was very similar to a head imp except for the fact that he was taller.

The only significant difference between him and a head imp, was the thin black tail growing from his tailbone. At the end of the tail was a triangle shaped tip that was similar to devil tails you saw in popular culture back on Earth.

“You’ve…evolved?”

I asked with a hideously desperate look on my face, an image that looked worse than a sobbing devil. This was the only thing I could do right now; stall for time until the guardsmen below came up, or until No.5’s reinforcements arrived.

“That’s right, I’ve evolved.” His voice oozed confidence as he said this. He was absolutely confident in his victory, and didn’t rush to capture me. As he clenched his fists it caught fire, but this flame didn’t hurt him. In a brazen show of strength, he slightly closed his eyes and smiled as he revelled in his newfound power.

“I’ve become the master of flames.”

Demon Child, the evolved form of head imps and also the three-star tier of devils.

Demon Child didn’t mean that they were the children of devils, but instead meant that devils of this tier had a defining feature that separated them from head imps. Devils who weren’t at least three-star couldn’t control magic. Only by advancing to three-star could they gain the ability to cast some fire magic.

Simply put, imps were the lowest tier of devils. They were basically at the level of cattle, this included head imps as well. The difference between a head imp and an imp was that one was a servant and the other a slave.

Only after they had ascended to three-stars, were they finally recognized as devils by other high ranking devils. Demon Childs were in a sense newborn devils.

I carefully shifted my feet backwards as he stood there, drunk in his revelling. Slowly but surely, I widened the distance between us. No.3 and Big 4 had wisely retreated with me as well, all the while maintaining an alert stance with their spiked maces ready in hand.

While my plan was pretty well thought out, reality never seemed to follow it. As we stood there, the sounds of footsteps began echoing from that underground tunnel. The guardsmen were on their way! But if I could hear it, the three-star Chipped Horn was definitely able to hear it as well.

“Seems like your men are almost here so it’s time to capture you.” Chipped Horn confidently declared. Beside me, my two bodyguards stood there agitated. While they knew that the three-star Chipped Horn was an entire tier above them, they weren’t frightened one bit. Instead, this merely strengthened their resolve to fight to the death.

Big 4 raised his spiked mace and charged towards Chipped Horn with No.3 following closely behind. As he left, No.3 left me these words: “Master, please leave first, we’ll hold him here.”

As Chipped Horn looked at his two opponents, he smiled disdainfully: “A pair trash actually dare to block my path. Die!”