Chapter 26: Aftermath (2/2)

”The other families tried to do the same but only succeed in staying relevant, the civil war ended over 5 centuries ago and now only 77 families and some high level demons were able to retain their regions. Through out this time none of the other families had succeeded in taking over this region, there was an unwritten rule that whoever claims this land would be crown the new demon King, although some had manage to expand into it a little, they would be interfered with by the others.”

Tyler felt a serious headache by all this, in the end it sounded like he was trapped in a box, before he could think any further though Albert continued. ”This region is divided into three main parts, the ever expanding Darknar forest, the Darkin mountain range, and the Greyad fields. There were a few cities in this region but they were all abandoned centuries ago. Recently settlements like this one can be found scattered all around this region.

Without an army or hunters to routinely clear out the monsters, this place immediately became the most dangerous region in the entire continent, with various legendary beasts taking residence in various locations in the region.

Anyone that was willing to move here had no choice, it was their only option, there are also scouts from each of the five great families stationed in safe zones near the demon king's castle. I am unsure of their true intentions but i heard the castle had a series of complex seals and concealment placed on it by the demon King himself and even with centuries of effort, they are still only able to partially access the castle.”

Before Albert could continue a knock came from the door, after receiving permission a guard entered the room, ”Chief, we're ready for the cremation, everyone is gathered at the gate.” ”Alright.” the chief answered and the guard hurriedly left, please excuse us for a moment, we must attend the cremation ceremony, it's our way of honoring the dead”

”of course.” Tyler replied, Liz seemed a little uncomfortable, it was obvious she was getting impatient, her fried was still in a critical condition after all.

Tyler felt a little bad that he had almost forgotten about that. They were invited to watch the ceremony and Tyler accepted, he didn't want to be stuck in an awkward atmosphere with Liz, she also accepted and they both left with the chief and Albert.

Getting to the gate Tyler finally noticed something, it was the aftermath of the battle, most of the population in the town now were children, the elderly a few pregnant women with only about 40 or so fighters. With this ratio and in a dangerous place like this, there was no way they would survive the next monster raid. He felt bad for them, if nothing was done they might not even survive a week.

The ceremony wasn't that long, the chief gave a short speech, the smaller kids cried and even some of the pregnant women, the pile of bodies had been covered with some kind of tarp to prevent the kids from seeing such gruesome sight, the bodies were set ablaze and burnt quickly, they all showed their respects and left.

Tyler and Liz watched this from a distance, Liz was a little upset, seeing this scene made her think of Rain and if she would survive, it was almost dark now and the last rays of sunshine was about to be gone. She knew they could no longer return back to the castle today, all she could think about was the worst case. Tyler could feel the emotions coming off her, he placed his right hand on her shoulder and said ”Don't worry, she was stable when we left, in that state she would be able to last a week, two days is nothing.”

He had no idea what he was talking about but it seemed to work, she had calmed down a bit, as the ceremony ended the chief and Albert walked back to Tyler and Liz, they were accompanied by someone else this time, it was the lady he had saved at the gate, she saw his gaze aimed at her and her cheeks heated up a bit and she avoided making eye contact.

”This is Erin, she's the only healer in our town and has agreed to escort you back to heal your friend... we would also like to escort you back as well, we can no longer stay here and although you have already done so much for us, we would appreciate and of course compensate you if you can escort us out of this region, of course after your friend is healed.”

'Escort you— I'm the one that needs an escort!' before Tyler could say anything Albert interjected. ”Forgive me Azar, I failed to mention this, i have already offered my Lord my life in other to save Erin and i will now be serving under him until the day i die.”

”HUH!!!” Both Azar and Tyler echoed each other's surprise.

”Cough cough... My apologies, I hadn't realized something like that happened, we can talk more about it on the way to... by the way young miss, where is your friend?”

”She's resting at the demon king's castle.”

”WHAT!!!”