70 The dryad (1/2)
Part 1
The group continued to move inside the city trying their best to avoid catching the curious eyes of nearby demons and monsters.
AS they kept walking their path looking for the church of the south god they would often encounter with attackers trying to feed on Daren after realizing a human was still alive in the demon kingdom. However, they would eventually leave him alone after smelling him for a few seconds and would just back off after acting as if they confused him with someone else.
”Why do they keep doing that...?”
Daren was confused as to why demons would suddenly rush towards him and then just leave after sensing his smell. He was glad the creatures were leaving him be but every time one would try to pounce on him, he felt like his heart would jump out of his mouth.
Ashley tried to calm down his worries.
”It's because they can feel the smell of a curse...”
”Eh...?”
Daren was surprised to see Ashley answering him with such confidence, but he just assumed that was a side-effect of the dryad on her head.
”The smell of a curse?”
”Even if you are in your human form right now they can feel the curse inside your body. They probably keep trying to attack you because they think you are a human... But once they realize you also have monster energy they probably give up afraid you might kill them.”
”I see...”
”This might work with smaller threats but let's hope we don't run into any demon who looks at you and think you might offer a good challenge for a fight... Demons can be really competitive...”
”Ugh... Demons just don't make any sense... They attack you if you act in a group, they don't attack you if you act in a group, they run away if they see you have a curse, they try to fight if they see you have a curse... Why can't these things just pick a character trait and stick with it???”
”Not all demons are the same... We are trying to act under what the general idea of their behavior might be... But even I can't predict how they all will act...”
”Man... Future sight would be really helpful right now...”
Lilith heard that comment and was hit by a feeling of guilt.
”I'm sorry...”
”Ah! Sorry Lilith, I didn't mean that!”
[Oh!!! She's a good one!!]
Ashley noticed Drya reacting to Lilith's suffering and started to feel a small boost in her strength.
[Ash!! Ash!! Get closer to that girl!! She's like a gold mine of suffering!!!]
”Eh...? Really?”
[Yeah!!! Her pain is just the best!!]
”...”
Ashley started to wonder if there was anything she could do to take advantage of that situation. She felt great when she was antagonizing Gustav a little earlier and asked herself what would it feel like to try with Lilith next.
”Hey Lilith, how long will it take before you can use your power again?”
”Eh? I- I'm not sure... The maze really drained me a lot... Sorry...”
”I see... It's ok... I just wanted to try and rely on it as much as possible since we won't be able to after Marcus arrives here. But if you can't do it, then I guess it can't be helped.”
”T- Thanks...”
”I mean... It's not like we are going to die if you spend one day without your power right? What's the worse it could happen? I mean... Evlin and Ria are still knocked out and you don't look so good yourself... And the rest of us are not really in any shape to put up much of a fight... But I'm sure we will be fine... Right?”
”...”
”Right Lilith...? Everything will be ok, right?”
”I... I don't know...”
”You don't know...? Oh... I see... Guess you need your power to know how things will turn out to make your own decisions...”
”Eh...!?”
Daren halted his movement and the whole group stopped with him. He turned around and looked at Ashley.
[Oh!!! He is angry!! Keep it going Ash! It's two for one!!]
”Ash... What's that supposed to mean...?”
”I mean... I'm right arent I? Lilith can't do anything without her future sight. Even if she was the strongest candidate to be partners with Marceus, at the end of the day it was the power doing all the work, wasn't it?”
Lilith started to look down with a depressed face as if someone just told her that her dog died. Daren noticed her expression and glared at Ashley.
”Ashley, you take that back...”
”Why? I mean, imagine what would have happened if such an amazing power belonged to someone besides Lilith. When we fought against Marcus her power was useless and he stole her armor. Without those, how good is she really?”
”...”
”Ashley, that's enough!”
[No, it's not!! Keep it going!! More, more!!]
”Why are you so angry with me? It's not like you're any better... You can turn into a huge lion monster at night, but right now... All you're capable of is releasing some angry looks and spouting insults...”
Auren was starting to get worried about Ashley's behavior as well.
”Ashley why are you talking like this? What's wrong with you?”
”Oh right! Auren! I almost forgot about you. I mean, you can't really blame me right... After all, you always were kinda forgettable...”
”What...?”
”I mean, even you said so before right...? You were supposed to be the healer but even Evlin can do that better than you... When I think about it, I have no idea what Ria sees in you.”
”How... How can you say that...?”
”I guess she just likes bald men... Or maybe she just got taken in by the mood since you confessed to her the moment she was about to die? Maybe she just has a thing for cowards. Seriously, it took her almost dying to admit how you felt about her.”
”...” x 4
The whole group was at a loss of words. Ashley would just not stop spitting insults to everyone as if she had some kind of rift with them. They all continued to release painful emotions due to her harsh words and making her even stronger.
Gustav who was just listening in quietly approached her with an angry look on his face.
”That's enough...”
”Oh!! Mr. horse!! It's your turn again? You need to wait your turn thought... I'm still not done with baldy over here.”
”Hey...”
”Eh...?”
”You're not Ashley... Are you...?”
”!!!” x 3
Daren, Lilith, and Auren stared at Gustav wondering what he was saying. Ashley looked at him and released a wide grin.
”What makes you say that...?”
”Because right now... I'm using my power to listen to your mind... And I can hear Ashley's voice screaming for help...”
Ashley's expression froze and then suddenly released an even wider grin. The group was staring at her trying to understand what was going on.
”... You're the dryad... Aren't you...?”
”...”
”Answer!”
”... Pfff!!”
”??”
”Hehehe...”
”!!!”
”Hahahahaha!!!”
”You... So you really...”
”Hahahahahahahahaha!!!! Man!!! You guys sure took a long time to catch on!! I was wondering if I would be able to keep the act until the Marcus kid showed up.”
”What did you do with Ashley??”
”Ashley?? You mean my little snack?? It's just like you said! She's in my head kicking and screaming asking me to let her out and telling you all to run!”
”No...”